While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple of Jerusalem. He was wanting to drink from them along with all his guests—his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. So they brought in the sacred gold vessels that were seized from the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king, his nobles, his wives, and his concubines all drank from them. As they all drank their wine, they praised their man-made gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
Then all at once, a human hand appeared out of thin air, and its finger began writing on the white-washed wall of the palace, illuminated by the lampstand nearby. When the king witnessed this strange hand as it was writing, terror gripped him! The color drained from his face, his knees began to knock together, and he wet himself.
The king shouted out, “Bring in the astrologers, wise men, and enchanters.” And when they came before him, he said to all the wise ones of Babylon, “I will make rich and famous anyone who can read this handwriting on the wall and tell me its interpretation. He will wear the purple robes of royalty and wear a golden collar on his neck, and I will make him the third highest ruler in my kingdom.”
All the king’s wise men came forward to examine the wall, but not one could read the writing or tell the king what it meant. King Belshazzar grew more and more terrified, his face turned ashen, and all his nobles were dumbfounded.
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.
“The words inscribed are: MENE, MENE, TEQEL, PARSIN. And here is what they mean:
“MENE: God has NUMBERED the days of your reign and brought it to an end.
“TEQEL: God has WEIGHED you in the balance, and you have been found lacking.
“PERES: God has DIVIDED UP your kingdom and given it to the Medes and the Persians.”
Immediately Belshazzar ordered Daniel to be clothed in a royal purple robe, to have a golden collar placed around his neck, and to be proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
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