Daniel 5

The Handwriting on the Wall

1 *ver. 22, 29, 30;ch. 7:1;8:1King Belshazzar *See Esth. 1:3made a great feast for a thousand of his *ch. 4:36;6:17lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2 *[See ver. 1above] Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that *ver. 23;See ch. 1:2the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father*5:2 Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18 had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in *[See ver. 2above]the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and *ver. 23;[Judg. 16:24] praised the *ver. 23;[Rev. 9:20]; See Ps. 115:4-7gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 *[ch. 4:31] Immediately *[Ezek. 8:3] the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw *ver. 24the hand as it wrote. 6 *[ver. 10; ch. 7:28] Then the king’s color changed, *[ch. 4:5,19;7:28] and his thoughts alarmed him; *[Ps. 69:23;Isa. 45:1] his limbs gave way, and *Nah. 2:10his knees knocked together. 7 *[ch. 2:2;4:6] The king called loudly to bring in *[ch. 2:2;4:6] the enchanters, the *See ch. 1:4Chaldeans, and *ch. 2:27the astrologers. The king declared*5:7 Aramaic answered and said; also verse 10 to the wise men of Babylon, *ver. 16, 29;[ch. 2:6] "Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and *ver. 16, 29shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but *ver. 15;ch. 4:7,18;[ch. 2:27;Gen. 41:8]they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly *[ch. 2:1] alarmed, and his *[See ver. 6above] color changed, and his *ver. 1lords were perplexed.

10 The queen,*5:10 Or queen mother; twice in this verse because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, *See ch. 2:4"O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you *[ver. 6, 9]or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom *See ch. 4:8in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.*5:11 Or Spirit of the holy God In the days of your father, *[ch. 1:20] light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—*ch. 4:9;[ch. 2:48] made him chief of the magicians, *[See ver. 7above]enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 *ch. 6:3because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and *See ch. 1:17understanding *See ch. 1:17to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and *ver. 16solve problems were found in this Daniel, *See ch. 1:7whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation."

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, "You are that Daniel, one of *See ch. 2:25the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that *[See ver. 11above] the spirit of the gods*5:14 Or Spirit of God is in you, and that *[See ver. 11above]light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now *ver. 7the wise men, the *[ch. 2:2;4:6] enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but *See ver. 8they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 *[ch. 2:26] But I have heard that you can give interpretations and *ver. 12solve problems. *ver. 7, 29Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, *ver. 7, 29you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and *ver. 7, 29shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, *[2 Kgs. 5:16]"Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the *ch. 3:26;4:2Most High God *[ch. 2:37;4:22] gave *ver. 2Nebuchadnezzar your father *[ch. 4:36]kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, *See ch. 3:4all peoples, nations, and languages *[ch. 6:26]trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But *[ch. 4:30,31;Ezek. 31:10,11] when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, *See ch. 2:21he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 *[ch. 4:25,32] He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, *[ch. 4:25,32] until he knew that the *[See ver. 18above]Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son,*5:22 Or successor*See ver. 1Belshazzar, *[2 Chr. 33:23]have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against *[ch. 4:37] the Lord of heaven. And *ver. 3;See ch. 1:2the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. *ver. 4And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, *Job 12:10but the God in whose hand is your breath, and *Jer. 10:23whose are all your ways, *[Acts 12:23;Rev. 16:9]you have not honored.

24 "Then from his presence *ver. 5the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered*5:26 Mene sounds like the Aramaic for numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, *Job 31:6;Ps. 62:9you have been weighed*5:27 Tekel sounds like the Aramaic for weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to *ver. 31;[ch. 9:1;Isa. 13:17;21:2;Jer. 51:28] the Medes and *See ch. 6:28Persians."*5:28 Peres (the singular of Parsin) sounds like the Aramaic for divided and for Persia

29 Then *[See ver. 22above] Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel *[ver. 7, 16]was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 *Jer. 50:24;51:31,39,57That very night *[See ver. 22above] Belshazzar the *ch. 9:1Chaldean king was killed. 31 *5:31 Ch 6:1 in Aramaic And *ch. 9:1Darius *[See ver. 28above]the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.