Daniel 5–6

Chapter 5

Belshazzar’s Feast

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

²When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he gave orders 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 emerged 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 king’s ^1aface grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his ^bhip joints went slack and his ^cknees began knocking together.

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

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

⁹Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^aalarmed, his ^1bface grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed.

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

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, appointed him 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 solving 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 Handwriting on the Wall

¹³Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke 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 inscription 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 solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription 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 have authority as the ¹third ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “¹Keep your ^agifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him.

¹⁸“¹O king, the ^aMost High God ^bgranted ²sovereignty, ^cgrandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father.

¹⁹“Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every ¹language feared and trembled before him; ^awhomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled.

²⁰“But when his heart was ^alifted up and his spirit became so ^1bproud 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 ¹mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the ^bwild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the ^cMost High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes.

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

²³but you have ^aexalted yourself 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 understand. But the God ^din whose hand are your life-breath and all your ^eways, you have not glorified.

²⁴“Then the ^1ahand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.

²⁵“Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘¹MENĒ, MENĒ, ²TEKĒL, ³UPHARSIN.’

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 deficient.

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

²⁹Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they ^aclothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the ¹third ruler in the kingdom.

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

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

Chapter 6

Daniel Serves Darius

¹¹It seemed good to Darius to appoint 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 ²he possessed an ^aextraordinary spirit, and the king planned to appoint him over the ^bentire kingdom.

⁴Then the commissioners and satraps began ^atrying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to ¹government affairs; but they could find ^bno 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 spoke to him as follows: “King Darius, ^alive forever!

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

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

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

¹⁰Now when Daniel knew that the 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 making petition and supplication before his God.

¹²Then they approached and ^aspoke before the king about the king’s injunction, “Did you not sign an injunction that any man who makes a petition to any god or man besides you, O king, for thirty days, is to be cast into the lions’ den?” The king replied, “The statement is true, according to the ^blaw of the Medes and Persians, which ¹may not be revoked.”

¹³Then they answered and spoke 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 making his petition three times a day.”

¹⁴Then, as soon as the king heard this statement, he was deeply ^adistressed and set his mind on delivering Daniel; and even until sunset he kept exerting himself to rescue him.

¹⁵Then these men came ¹by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Recognize, 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 gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and ^acast into the lions’ den. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “^1bYour God whom you constantly serve will Himself deliver you.”

¹⁷A ^astone was brought and laid 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 went in haste to the lions’ den.

²⁰When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has ^ayour God, whom you constantly serve, been ^bable to deliver 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 also ²toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.”

²³Then the king was very pleased and gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den and ^ano injury…