Daniel 5:5–12

⁵Suddenly 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. ⁶His face turned paleⁱ and he was so frightened^j that his legs became weak^k and his knees were knocking.^l

⁷The king summoned the enchanters,^m astrologers^bn and diviners.^o Then he said to these wise^p 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 third^r highest ruler in the kingdom.”^s

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

¹⁰The 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! ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods^x in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom^y 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 riddles^c and solve difficult problems.^d Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.^e”