When the queen mother heard the uproar among the king and his nobles, she entered the banquet hall and said, “Long live the king! Do not be so alarmed. Why are you so pale? There is a mighty man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. During your predecessor’s reign, he was found to have light, brilliant insight, and godlike wisdom. It was, in fact, your predecessor King Nebuchadnezzar, who made him chief of the wise men, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has an extraordinary spirit and is full of revelation and understanding. He possesses a rare ability to interpret dreams, unravel mysteries, and find solutions to impossible problems. So send for Daniel, and he will reveal to you what this handwriting means.”
Then Daniel was brought into the presence of King Belshazzar, and the king asked him, “So, you are the Daniel of the Jewish exiles my predecessor brought here from Judah? I have heard so much about you. I’ve been told that you have the Spirit of God and that you possess divine illumination, brilliant insight, and extraordinary wisdom. Now, I have already brought in my wise men and astrologers before me, that they might read this inscription and give me its interpretation, but they were unable to show me what the words mean. However, I have heard that you are able to interpret dreams and that you have solutions for impossible problems. If you, then, can read the handwriting and tell me what it means, you will wear purple robes of royalty and a golden collar on your neck, and you will become the third most powerful ruler in the kingdom.”
Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your rewards or give your gifts to someone else. But I will clear up for you the mystery of this handwriting on the wall. As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, honor, and majesty. God made him so great that people everywhere—people from every nation, tribe, and language group—trembled with fear and dread of him. He killed or spared whomever he pleased, and he exalted or humbled whomever he wished. But when his heart was inflated with pride and his spirit hardened into stubbornness, God deposed him from his royal throne and stripped him of his glory. He was driven away from civilization, for his mind became like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox. His body was bathed with the dew of heaven until finally he acknowledged that the Most High God has dominion over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone he wishes.
“Yet you, his successor Belshazzar, you have not humbled your heart even though you knew all this. Instead, you lifted yourself up above the sovereign Lord of the heavens. And you brought into your banquet hall the vessels of his temple so that you and your nobles, your wives, and your concubines might drink wine from them. You lifted praises to your gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, who do not see or hear or know anything; but the God who controls your very life breath and every move you make you did not glorify. This is why God sent the hand that wrote the inscription upon the wall.
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