Daniel 5:1–12

The Mysterious Writing on the Wall

5 Belshazzar the king made a great festival for a thousand of his lords,a and ⌊in the presence of⌋b the thousand lords he was drinking wine.c 2 ⌊When he tasted the wine⌋,d Belshazzar commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his ⌊predecessor⌋e had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords,f his wives and his concubines may drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the vessels of gold that they took from the temple, the house of God that was in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords,g his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.h

5 ⌊Immediately⌋i ⌊human fingers⌋j appeared and they wrote ⌊opposite⌋k the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watchingl the palm of the hand that was writing. 6 Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and ⌊his hip joints gave way⌋m and ⌊his knees knocked together⌋.n 7 The king cried ⌊aloud⌋o to bring in the conjurers,p the ⌊astrologers⌋q and the diviners; the king ⌊spoke⌋r and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed in purple and will have a necklace of gold hung around his neck and he will rule as third in authority in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation.s 9 Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and ⌊his facial features⌋t changed upon him, and his lordsu were perplexed.

10 Because of the words of the king and his lords,v the queen came into ⌊the banqueting hall⌋w and the queen ⌊spoke up⌋x and said, “O king, live ⌊forever⌋,y and let not your thoughts terrify you and do not let your facial expressions ⌊grow pale⌋.z 11 There is a man in your kingdom ⌊who has the spirit of the holy gods in him⌋.a And in the days of your ⌊predecessor⌋,b enlightenment and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him; and, O king, Nebuchadnezzar your ⌊predecessor⌋c appointed him as chief of the magicians,d the conjurers,e the ⌊astrologers⌋,f and the diviners. Your ⌊predecessor⌋g the king did this 12 ⌊because⌋h there was found in him an excellent spirit and understanding and insight for interpreting dreams and explaining riddles and solving riddles; that is, in Daniel ⌊whom the king named⌋i Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell the explanation.”j

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a	Or “nobles”
b	Literally “to over against”
c	Or “the wine”
d	Literally “At the taste of the wine”
e	Literally “father”
f	Or “nobles”
g	Or “nobles”
h	All these metals have the definite article that does not have to be translated into English to retain the meaning
i	Literally “In its the hour”
j	Literally “fingers of the hand of a man”
k	Literally “to over against”
l	Or “gazing at”
m	Literally “the limbs of his hip became loose”
n	Literally “his knees this to this they knocked together”
o	Literally “with strength”
p	Or “enchanters”
q	Literally “Chaldeans”
r	Literally “answered”
s	Aramaic “the explanation/ interpretation”
t	Literally “shining of his face”
u	Or “nobles”
v	Or “nobles”
w	Literally “the house of the drinking”
x	Literally “answered”
y	Literally “to eternity”
z	Literally “change”
a	Literally “who the spirit of holy gods is in him”
b	Literally “father”
c	Literally “father”
d	Or “soothsayer-priests”
e	Or “enchanters”
f	Literally “Chaldeans”
g	Literally “father”
h	Literally “all of because that”
i	Literally “whom the king gave his name”
j	Or “interpretation”