5 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. 6 His face turned palei and he was so frightenedj that his legs became weakk and his knees were knocking.l

7 The king summoned the enchanters,m astrologersb n and diviners.o Then he said to these wisep men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck,q and he will be made the thirdr highest ruler in the kingdom.”s

8 Then all the king’s wise ment came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.u 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrifiedv and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

10 The queen,c hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!”w she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy godsx in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdomy like that of the gods.z Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.a 12 He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar,b was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddlesc and solve difficult problems.d Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.e”