Daniel 5:13–31

Daniel Explains the Writing

¹³Daniel was brought at once into the king’s presence, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, that Jewish exile whom my father the king brought here from Judah? ¹⁴I have heard that the spirit of the holy gods^l is in you and that you are skilful and have knowledge and wisdom. ¹⁵The advisers and magicians were brought in to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not discover the meaning. ¹⁶Now I have heard that you can find hidden meanings and explain mysteries. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be dressed in robes of royal purple, wear a gold chain of honour round your neck, and be the third in power in the kingdom.”

¹⁷Daniel replied, “Keep your gifts for yourself or give them to someone else. I will read for Your Majesty what has been written and tell you what it means.

¹⁸“The Supreme God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great king and gave him dignity and majesty. ¹⁹He was so great that people of all nations, races, and languages were afraid of him and trembled. If he wanted to kill someone, he did; if he wanted to keep someone alive, he did. He honoured or disgraced anyone he wanted to. ²⁰But because he became proud, stubborn, and cruel, he was removed from his royal throne and lost his place of honour. ²¹He was driven away from human society, and his mind became like that of an animal. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like an ox, and slept in the open air with nothing to protect him from the dew. Finally he admitted that the Supreme God controls all human kingdoms and can give them to anyone he chooses.

²²“But you, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this. ²³You acted against the Lord of heaven and brought in the cups and bowls taken from his Temple. You, your noblemen, your wives, and your concubines drank wine out of them and praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that cannot see or hear and that do not know anything. But you did not honour the God who determines whether you live or die and who controls everything you do. ²⁴That is why God has sent the hand to write these words.

²⁵“This is what was written: ‘Number, number, weight, divisions.’ ²⁶And this is what it means: number, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ²⁷weight, you have been weighed on the scales and found to be too light; ²⁸divisions, your kingdom is divided up and given to the Medes and Persians.”^m

²⁹Immediately Belshazzar ordered his servants to dress Daniel in a robe of royal purple and to hang a gold chain of honour round his neck. And he made him the third in power in the kingdom. ³⁰That same night Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, was killed; ³¹and Darius the Mede, who was then 62 years old, seized the royal power.