Daniel 5:13–31

¹³Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art ^rof the children of the captivity of Judah, ^swhom the king my father brought out of Jewry? ¹⁴I have even heard of thee, that ⁱⁱthe spirit of the gods is in thee, and that ^jlight and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. ¹⁵And now ^tthe wise men, ^tthe astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: ^cbut they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: ¹⁶and I have heard of thee, that thou canst ^umake interpretations, and ^udissolve doubts: ^vnow ^wif thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, ^vthou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and ^vhave a chain of gold about thy neck, and ^vshalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. ¹⁷Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ^xLet thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

¹⁸O thou king, ^ythe most high God ^zgave Nebuchadnezzar ^athy father a kingdom, and ^bmajesty, and ^bbglory, and ^bbhonour: ¹⁹and for ^bthe majesty that he gave him, all ^cpeople, nations, and languages, ^dtrembled and feared before him: ^ewhom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. ²⁰But ^eewhen his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and ^fthey took his ^bbglory from him: ²¹and he was ^gdriven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with ^hthe wild asses: ^gthey fed him with grass like oxen, and ⁱhis body was wet with the dew of heaven; ^gtill he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. ²²And thou his son, O Belshazzar, ^khast not humbled thine heart, ^lthough thou knewest all this; ²³but hast lifted up thyself against ^mthe Lord of heaven; and ⁿthey have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and ^othou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and ^pthou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, ^qwhich see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God ^rin whose hand thy breath is, and ^swhose are all thy ways, hast thou not ^tglorified: ²⁴then was ^uthe part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. ²⁵And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ^26vThis is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. ²⁷TEKEL; ^wThou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. ²⁸PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to ^xthe Medes and ^yPersians.

²⁹Then commanded Belshazzar, and ^zthey clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put ^za chain of gold about his neck, and ^amade a proclamation concerning him, ^zthat he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. ^30bIn that night was Belshazzar the king of ^cthe Chaldeans slain. ³¹And ^dDarius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two year old.

VI.