^5:13So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? ^5:14I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have³⁵ insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom. ^5:15Now the wise men and³⁶ astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message. ^5:16However, I have heard³⁷ that you are able to provide interpretations and to decipher knotty problems. Now if you are able to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will wear purple and have a golden collar around your neck and be third³⁸ ruler in the kingdom.”

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting on the Wall

^5:17But Daniel replied to the king, “Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its³⁹ interpretation. ^5:18As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty.⁴⁰^5:19Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear⁴¹ before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared⁴² whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished. ^5:20And when his mind⁴³ became arrogant⁴⁴ and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him. ^5:21He was driven from human society, his mind⁴⁵ was changed to that of an animal, he lived⁴⁶ with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.

^5:22“But you, his son⁴⁷ Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself,⁴⁸ although you knew all this. ^5:23Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods⁴⁹ that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control⁵⁰ your very breath and all your ways! ^5:24Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.

^5:25“This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE,⁵¹ TEQEL, and PHARSIN.⁵²^5:26This is the interpretation of the words:⁵³ As for mene⁵⁴—God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end. ^5:27As for teqel—you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking. ^5:28As for peres⁵⁵—your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

^5:29Then, on Belshazzar’s orders,⁵⁶ Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom. ^5:30And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king,⁵⁷ was killed.⁵⁸^{5:31 (6:1)}⁵⁹ So Darius the Mede took control of the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old.

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Footnotes

35 Aram “there has been found in you.”
36 The Aramaic text does not have “and.” The term “astrologers” is either an appositive for “wise men” (cf. , , , , ), or the construction is to be understood as asyndetic (so the translation above).
37 The Aramaic text has also the words “about you.”
38 Or perhaps “one of three rulers,” in the sense of becoming part of a triumvir. So also v. 29.
39 Or “the.”
40 Or “royal greatness and majestic honor,” if the four terms are understood as a double hendiadys.
41 Aram “were trembling and fearing.” This can be treated as a hendiadys, “were trembling with fear.”
42 Aram “let live.” This Aramaic form is the aphel participle of חַיָה(khayah, “to live”). Theodotion and the mistakenly take the form to be from מְחָא (mékha’, “to smite”).
43 Aram “heart.”
44 The point of describing Nebuchadnezzar as arrogant is that he had usurped divine prerogatives, and because of his immense arrogance God had dealt decisively with him.
45 Aram “heart.”
46 Aram “his dwelling.”
47 Or “descendant”; or “successor.”
48 Aram “your heart.”
49 Aram “which.”
50 Aram “in whose hand [are].”
51 The Greek version of Theodotion lacks the repetition of מְנֵא (méne’, cf. ).
52 The Aramaic word is plural. Theodotion has the singular (cf. “peres”).
53 Or “word” or “event.” See מִלָּה.
54 The Aramaic term מְנֵא (méne’) is a noun referring to a measure of weight. The linkage here to the verb “to number” (Aram. מְנָה, ménah) is a case of paronomasia rather than strict etymology. So also with תְּקֵל (téqel) and פַרְסִין (farsin). In the latter case there is an obvious wordplay with the name “Persian.”
55 Peres (פְּרֵס) is the singular form of פַרְסִין (pharsin) in v. 25.
56 Aram “Belshazzar spoke.”
57 Aram “king of the Chaldeans.”
58 The year was 539 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been approximately eighty-one years old. The relevant extra-biblical records describing the fall of Babylon include portions of Herodotus, Xenophon, Berossus (cited in Josephus), the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Babylonian Chronicle.
59 Beginning with 5:31, the verse numbers through 6:28 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Aramaic text (), with 5:31 = 6:1 , 6:1 = 6:2 , 6:2 = 6:3 , 6:3 = 6:4 , etc., through 6:28 = 6:29 . Beginning with 7:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Aramaic text are again the same.