Daniel 5:13–31

¹³Then Daniel hath been caused to come up before the king; answered hath the king, and said to Daniel, ‘Thou art that Daniel who art of the sons of the Removed of Judah, whom the king my father brought in out of Judah? ¹⁴And I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee.

¹⁵‘And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing: ¹⁶and I—I have heard of thee, that thou art able to give interpretations, and to loose knots: now, lo—thou art able to read the writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know—purple thou dost put on, and a bracelet of gold is on thy neck, and third in the kingdom thou dost rule.’ ¹⁷Then hath Daniel answered and said before the king, ‘Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give; nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know; ¹⁸thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father: ¹⁹and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low; ²⁰and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him, ²¹and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses is his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it.

²²‘And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known; ²³and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand is thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.

²⁴‘Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down; ²⁵and this is the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided. ²⁶This is the interpretation of the thing: Numbered—God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it. ²⁷Weighed—Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking. ²⁸Divided—Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.’ ²⁹Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold is on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain, ³¹and Darius the Mede hath received the kingdom, when a son of sixty and two years.

Chapter 6