Daniel 5–6

CHAPTER 5

Belshazzar’s Feast

¹Belshazzar the king ¹held a great ^afeast for one thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.

²When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he said to bring the gold and silver ^avessels which Nebuchadnezzar his ¹father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.

³Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.

⁴They ^adrank the wine and praised the gods of ^bgold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

⁵Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand came out and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the ¹back of the hand that did the writing.

⁶Then the ^1asplendor of the king’s face changed, and his thoughts alarmed him, and his ^bhip joints ²went slack, and his ^cknees were knocking against each other.

⁷The king called out loudly to bring in the ^aconjurers, the ¹Chaldeans, and the diviners. The king answered and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this writing and declare its interpretation to me shall be ^bclothed with purple and have a ^cnecklace of gold around his neck and rule with power as ^2dthird ruler in the kingdom.”

⁸Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ^athey could not read the writing or make known its interpretation to the king.

⁹Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^aalarmed, and the ^1bsplendor of his face changed further, and his nobles were perplexed.

¹⁰The queen entered the banquet ¹hall because of the words of the king and his nobles; the queen answered and said, “^aO king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts alarm you or the ²splendor of your face be changed.

¹¹“There is a ^aman in your kingdom in whom is ¹a ^bspirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father, illumination, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, your father ^2cthe king, set him as chief of the ³magicians, conjurers, ⁴Chaldeans, and diviners.

¹²“This was because an ^aextraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas, and ¹solving of difficult problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named ^bBelteshazzar. Let Daniel now be summoned, and he will declare the interpretation.”

Daniel Interprets the Writing on the Wall

¹³Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the ^1aexiles from Judah, whom my father the king ^bbrought from Judah?

¹⁴“Now I have heard about you that ¹a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight, and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you.

¹⁵“Just now the ^awise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this writing and make its interpretation known to me, but they ^bcould not declare the interpretation of the ¹message.

¹⁶“But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and ¹solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and make its ^ainterpretation known to me, you will be ^bclothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will rule with power as the ²third ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your ^agifts remain with you or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the writing to the king and make the interpretation known to him.

¹⁸“¹O king, the ^aMost High God ^bgranted the kingdom, ^cgrandeur, glory, and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.

¹⁹“And because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue feared and were in dread before him; ^awhomever he wished he killed, and whomever he wished he kept alive, and whomever he wished he raised up, and whomever he wished he made low.

²⁰“But when his heart was ^araised up and his spirit became so ^bstrong that he behaved arrogantly, he was ^cdeposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him.

²¹“He was also ^adriven away from the sons of ¹men, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his place of habitation was with the ^bwild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of the sky until he knew that the ^cMost High God is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and that He sets up over it whomever He wishes.

²²“Yet you, his ¹son, Belshazzar, have ^anot made your heart lowly, ²even though you knew all this,

²³but you have ^araised yourself up against the ^bLord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the ^cgods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear, or know. But the God ^din whose hand are your life-breath and all your ^eways, you have not honored.

²⁴“Then the ^1ahand was sent from Him, and this writing was ²inscribed.

²⁵“Now this is the writing that was ¹inscribed: ‘²MENĒ, ³MENĒ, ⁴TEKĒL, ⁵UPHARSIN.’

²⁶“This is the interpretation of the ¹message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and ^aput an end to it.

²⁷“‘TEKĒL’—you have been ^aweighed on the scales and found lacking.

²⁸“‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the ^aMedes and ¹Persians.”

²⁹Then Belshazzar said the word, and they ^aclothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now would be the ¹third powerful ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰That same night ^aBelshazzar the Chaldean king was ^bkilled.

³¹¹So ^aDarius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.

CHAPTER 6

Darius’ Officials Seek to Accuse Daniel

¹¹It seemed good to Darius that he set 120 satraps over the kingdom, that they would be in charge of the whole kingdom,

²and over them three commissioners (of whom ^aDaniel was one), that these satraps might be accountable to them, and that the king might not suffer ^bloss.

³Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself ¹among the commissioners and satraps because an ^aextraordinary spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the ^bentire kingdom.

⁴Then the commissioners and satraps began ^aseeking to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to matters of the kingdom; but they were not able to find ^bany ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him.

⁵Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the ^alaw of his God.”

⁶Then these commissioners and satraps came ¹by agreement to the king and said thus to him: “King Darius, ^alive forever!

⁷“All the ^acommissioners of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the high officials and the governors have ^bcounseled together that the king should establish a statute and enforce an injunction that anyone who seeks to make a petition ¹to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, shall ^cbe cast into the lions’ ²den.

⁸“Now, O king, ^aestablish the injunction and ¹sign the written document so that it may not be changed, according to the ^blaw of the Medes and Persians, which ²may not be revoked.”

⁹Therefore King Darius ^asigned the written document, that is, the injunction.

¹⁰Now when Daniel knew that the written document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open ^atoward Jerusalem); and he continued ^bkneeling on his knees three times a day, ^cpraying and ^dgiving thanks before his God, ¹as he had been doing previously.

¹¹Then these men came ^1aby agreement and found Daniel seeking to make a petition and making supplication before his God.

¹²Then they came near and ^asaid before the king concerning the king’s injunction, “Did you not sign an injunction that any man who seeks to make a petition ¹to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lions’ den?” The king answered and said, “The word is certain, according to the ^blaw of the Medes and Persians, which ²may not be revoked.”

¹³Then they answered and said before the king, “^aDaniel, who is one of the ¹exiles from Judah, pays ^bno attention to you, O king, or to the injunction which you signed, but keeps seeking to make his petition three times a day.”

¹⁴Then, as soon as the king heard this word, he was greatly ^adistressed within himself and set his mind on saving Daniel; and even until sunset he kept exerting himself to deliver him.

¹⁵Then these men came ¹by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a ^alaw of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or statute which the king establishes may be changed.”

Daniel in the Lions’ Den

¹⁶Then the king said the word, and Daniel was brought in and ^acast into the lions’ den. The king answered and said to Daniel, “^1bYour God whom you constantly serve will Himself save you.”

¹⁷And a ^astone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing would be changed in regard to Daniel.

¹⁸Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night ^afasting, and no entertainment was brought before him; and his ^bsleep fled from him.

¹⁹Then the king arose at dawn, at the break of day, and hurriedly went to the lions’ den.

²⁰When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king answered and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has ^ayour God, whom you constantly serve, been ^bable to save you from the lions?”

²¹Then Daniel spoke ¹to the king, “^aO king, live forever!

²²“My God ^asent His angel and ^bshut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as ¹I was found innocent before Him; and…