¹³So Daniel was brought to the king. The king said to him, “Are you Daniel? Are you one of the prisoners my father the king brought here from Judah? ¹⁴I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you. I’ve also heard that you have understanding and good sense and special wisdom.

¹⁵“The wise men and those who practice magic were brought to me. They were asked to read this writing and tell me what it means. But they couldn’t.

¹⁶“I have heard that you are able to explain things and solve hard problems. I hope you can read this writing and tell me what it means. If you can, you will be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain will be put around your neck. And you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷Then Daniel answered the king. He said, “You can keep your gifts for yourself. You can give your rewards to someone else. But I will read the writing for you. I’ll tell you what it means.

¹⁸“King Belshazzar, the Most High God was good to your father Nebuchadnezzar. He gave him authority and greatness and glory and honor. ¹⁹God gave him a high position. Then all of the people from every nation and language became afraid of the king. He put to death anyone he wanted to. He spared anyone he wanted to spare. He gave high positions to anyone he wanted to. And he brought down anyone he wanted to bring down.

²⁰“But his heart became very stubborn and proud. So he was removed from his royal throne. His glory was stripped away from him. ²¹He was driven away from people. He was given the mind of an animal. He lived like the wild donkeys. He ate grass just as cattle do. His body became wet with the dew of heaven. He stayed that way until he recognized that the Most High God rules over all of the kingdoms of men. He puts anyone he wants to in charge of them.

²²“But you knew all of that, Belshazzar. After all, you are Nebuchadnezzar’s son. In spite of that, you are still proud. ²³You have taken your stand against the Lord of heaven. You had your servants bring cups from his temple to you. You and your nobles drank wine from them. So did your wives and concubines. You praised your gods. The statues of those gods are made out of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood or stone. They can’t see or hear or understand anything. But you didn’t honor the God who holds in his hand your very life and everything you do. ²⁴So he sent the hand that wrote on the wall.

²⁵“Here is what was written.

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin

²⁶“And here is what those words mean.

Mene means that God has limited the time of your rule. He has brought it to an end.

²⁷Tekel means that you have been weighed on scales. And you haven’t measured up to God’s standard.

²⁸Peres means that your authority over your kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹Then Belshazzar commanded his servants to dress Daniel in purple clothes. So they did. They put a gold chain around his neck. And he was made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰That very night Belshazzar, the king of Babylonia, was killed. ³¹His kingdom was given to Darius the Mede. Darius was 62 years old.

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