17 Then 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.

18 O thou king, ythe most high God zgave Nebuchadnezzar athy father a kingdom, and bmajesty, and bbglory, and bbhonour: 19 And 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. 20 But 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: 21 And 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. 22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, khast not humbled thine heart, lthough thou knewest all this; 23 But 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: 24 Then was uthe part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. 25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 26 vThis is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. 27 TEKEL; wThou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. 28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and *given to xthe Medes and yPersians.

29 Then 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. 30 bIn that night was Belshazzar the king of cthe Chaldeans slain. 31 And dDarius the Median took the kingdom, †being ||about threescore and two years old.