Daniel 5–6

The Handwriting on the Wall

5^eKing Belshazzar ^fmade a great feast for a thousand of his ^glords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

^2eBelshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that ^hthe vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father¹ 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. ³Then they brought in ^hthe 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. ⁴They drank wine and ⁱpraised the ^jgods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

^5kImmediately ^lthe 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 ^mthe hand as it wrote. ⁶ⁿThen the king’s color changed, ^oand his thoughts alarmed him; ^phis limbs gave way, and ^qhis knees knocked together. ^7rThe king called loudly to bring in ^rthe enchanters, the ^sChaldeans, and ^tthe astrologers. The king declared² to the wise men of Babylon, ^u“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and ^vshall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” ⁸Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ^wthey could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. ⁹Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^xalarmed, and his ⁿcolor changed, and his ^ylords were perplexed.

¹⁰The queen,³ because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, ^z“O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you ^aor your color change. ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom ^bin whom is the spirit of the holy gods.⁴ In the days of your father, ^clight and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—^dmade him chief of the magicians, ^renchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, ^12ebecause an excellent spirit, knowledge, and ^funderstanding ^fto interpret dreams, explain riddles, and ^gsolve problems were found in this Daniel, ^hwhom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting

¹³Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of ⁱthe exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. ¹⁴I have heard of you that ^bthe spirit of the gods⁵ is in you, and that ^clight and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. ¹⁵Now ^jthe wise men, the ^kenchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but ^lthey could not show the interpretation of the matter. ^16mBut I have heard that you can give interpretations and ⁿsolve problems. ^oNow if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, ^oyou shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and ^pshall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ^q“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. ¹⁸O king, the ^rMost High God ^sgave ^tNebuchadnezzar your father ^ukingship and greatness and glory and majesty. ¹⁹And because of the greatness that he gave him, ^vall peoples, nations, and languages ^wtrembled 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. ²⁰But ^xwhen his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, ^yhe was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. ^21zHe 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, ^zuntil he knew that the ^rMost High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. ²²And you his son,^{6 a}Belshazzar, ^bhave not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, ²³but you have lifted up yourself against ^cthe Lord of heaven. And ^dthe 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. ^eAnd you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, ^fbut the God in whose hand is your breath, and ^gwhose are all your ways, ^hyou have not honored.

²⁴“Then from his presence ⁱthe hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. ²⁵And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. ²⁶This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered⁷ the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ²⁷Tekel, ^jyou have been weighed⁸ in the balances and found wanting; ²⁸Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to ^kthe Medes and ^lPersians.”⁹

²⁹Then ^aBelshazzar gave the command, and Daniel ^mwas 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.

³⁰ⁿThat very night ^aBelshazzar the ^oChaldean king was killed. ³¹¹⁰ And ^pDarius ^kthe Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Daniel and the Lions’ Den

6It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom ^q120 ^rsatraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; ²and over them ^sthree high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these ^rsatraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. ³Then this Daniel became ^tdistinguished above all ^sthe other high officials and ^rsatraps, because ^uan excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned ^vto set him over the whole kingdom. ⁴Then ^sthe high officials and ^rthe satraps ^wsought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, ^xbut they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, ^xand no error or fault was found in him. ⁵Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

⁶Then these ^shigh officials and ^rsatraps came by agreement¹ to the king and said to him, “O ^yKing Darius, live forever! ⁷All the ^shigh officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the ^zcounselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an ^ainjunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. ⁸Now, O king, establish ^athe injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to ^bthe law of ^cthe Medes and the Persians, ^dwhich cannot be revoked.” ⁹Therefore King Darius signed the document and ^ainjunction.

¹⁰When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where ^ehe had windows in his upper chamber open ^ftoward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees ^gthree times a day and prayed and ^hgave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. ¹¹Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. ¹²Then they ⁱcame near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign ^jan injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of ^cthe Medes and Persians, ^dwhich cannot be revoked.” ¹³Then they answered and said before the king, ^k“Daniel, who is one ^lof the exiles ^kfrom Judah, ^mpays no attention to you, O king, or ^jthe injunction you have signed, but makes his petition ^gthree times a day.”

¹⁴Then ⁿthe king, when he heard these words, ⁿwas much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. ¹⁵Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no ^jinjunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

¹⁶Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared² to Daniel, “May ^oyour God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” ^17pAnd a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, ^qand the king sealed it ^rwith his own signet and with the signet of his ^slords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. ¹⁸Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; ^tno diversions were brought to him, and ^usleep fled from him.

¹⁹Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. ²⁰As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of ^vthe living God, ^ohas your God, whom you serve continually, ^wbeen able to deliver you from the lions?” ²¹Then Daniel said to the king, ^x“O king, live forever! ²²My God ^ysent his angel ^zand shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless ^abefore him; ^aand also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” ²³Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and ^bno kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. ²⁴And the king commanded, and ^cthose men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

²⁵Then King Darius wrote to all ^dthe peoples, nations, and languages ^ethat dwell in all the earth: ^f“Peace be multiplied to you. ^26gI make a decree, that in all my royal dominion ^hpeople are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,…