^5:5At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared¹² and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand.¹³ The king was watching the back¹⁴ of the hand that was writing. ^5:6Then all the color drained from the king’s face¹⁵ and he became alarmed.¹⁶ The joints of his hips gave way,¹⁷ and his knees began knocking together.

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Footnotes

12 Aram “came forth.”
13 The mention of the lampstand in this context is of interest because it suggests that the writing was in clear view.
14 While Aramaic פַּס (pas) can mean the palm of the hand, here it seems to be the back of the hand that is intended.
15 Aram “[the king’s] brightness changed for him.”
16 Aram “his thoughts were alarming him.”
17 Aram “his loins went slack.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing, his face turned pale, and his thoughts so terrified him that he soiled himself and his knees knocked together.

NLTNew Living Translation

While they drank from them they praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote, and his face turned pale with fright. His knees knocked together in fear and his legs gave way beneath him.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Immediately human fingers appeared and they wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching the palm of the hand that was writing. Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and his hip joints gave way and his knees knocked together.

KJV 1900King James Version

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

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