Belshazzar's Impious Feast

1Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine; 2Belshazzar hath said — while tasting the wine — to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king, and his great men, his wives, and his concubines. 3Then they have brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple of the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem, and drunk with them have the king and his great men, his wives and his concubines; 4they have drunk wine, and have praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

The Handwriting on the Wall

5In that hour come forth have fingers of a man’s hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing; 6then the king’s countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another. 7Call doth the king mightily, to bring up the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Answered hath the king, and said to the wise men of Babylon, that, ‘Any man who doth read this writing, and its interpretation doth shew me, purple he putteth on, and a bracelet of gold [is] on his neck, and third in the kingdom he doth rule.’ 8Then coming up are all the wise men of the king, and they are not able to read the writing, and the interpretation to make known to the king; 9then the king Belshazzar is greatly troubled, and his countenance is changing in him, and his great men are perplexed.

10The queen, on account of the words of the king and his great men, to the banquet-house hath come up. Answered hath the queen, and said, ‘O king, to the ages live; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance be changed: 11there is a man in thy kingdom in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods: and, in the days of thy father, light, and understanding, and wisdom — as the wisdom of the gods — was found in him; and king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, chief of the scribes, enchanters, Chaldeans, soothsayers, established him — thy father, O king — 12because that an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of enigmas, and loosing of knots was found in him, in Daniel, whose name the king made Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and the interpretation he doth show.’

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting

13Then Daniel hath been caused to come up before the king; answered hath the king, and said to Daniel, ‘Thou art that Daniel who [art] of the sons of the Removed of Judah, whom the king my father brought in out of Judah? 14And I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods [is] in thee, and light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee. 15‘And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing: 16and I — I have heard of thee, that thou art able to give interpretations, and to loose knots: now, lo — thou art able to read the writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know — purple thou dost put on, and a bracelet of gold [is] on thy neck, and third in the kingdom thou dost rule.’

17Then hath Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give; nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know; 18thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father: 19and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low; 20and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him, 21and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses [is] his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it. 22‘And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; 23and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand [is] thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured. 24‘Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down;

25and this [is] the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided. 26This [is] the interpretation of the thing: Numbered — God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it. 27Weighed — Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking. 28Divided — Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.’

29Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold [is] on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

30In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain, 31and Darius the Mede hath received the kingdom, when a son of sixty and two years.