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Daniel 5:1-9; 13-17; 25-31 NIV
1 King Belshazzar gave a great
banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.
2 While Belshazzar was drinking
his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets
that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in
Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his
concubines might drink from them.
3 So they brought in the gold
goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and
the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from
them.
4 As they drank the wine, they
praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and
stone.
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 pale and he
was so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave
way.
7 The king called out for the enchanters, astrologers and
diviners to be brought and said to these wise 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, and
he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not
read the writing or tell the king what it meant.
9 So King Belshazzar became
even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were
baffled.
13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to
him, "Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought
from Judah?
14 I have heard that the spirit
of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and
outstanding wisdom.
15 The wise men and enchanters
were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it
means, but they could not explain it.
16 Now I have heard that you
are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If
you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be
clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and
you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom."
17 Then Daniel answered the king, "You may keep your gifts for
yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will
read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
25 "This is the inscription that was written: Mene , Mene ,
Tekel , Parsin
26 "This is what these words mean:
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an
end.
27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found
wanting.
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and
Persians."
29 Then at Belshazzar's command, Daniel was clothed in purple,
a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the
third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was
slain,
31 and Darius the Mede took
over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.
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