Dan 5 | ESV | STEP | King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand .

2 ^dBelshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that ^ethe vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father ^{▼▼Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18} had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in ^gthe golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and ^hpraised the ⁱgods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 ^jImmediately ^kthe fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw ^lthe hand as it wrote. 6 ^mThen the king’s color changed, ⁿand his thoughts alarmed him; ^ohis limbs gave way, and ^phis knees knocked together. 7 ^qThe king called loudly to bring in ^rthe enchanters, the ^sChaldeans, and ^tthe astrologers. The king declared ^{▼▼Aramaic answered and said; also verse 10} to the wise men of Babylon, ^v“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and ^wshall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ^xthey could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^yalarmed, and his ^zcolor changed, and his ^aalords were perplexed.

10 The queen, ^{▼▼Or queen mother; twice in this verse} because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, ^ac“O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you ^ador your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom ^aein whom is the spirit of the holy gods. ^{▼▼Or Spirit of the holy God} In the days of your father, ^aglight and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king— ^ahmade him chief of the magicians, ^aienchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 ^ajbecause an excellent spirit, knowledge, and ^akunderstanding ^alto interpret dreams, explain riddles, and ^amsolve problems were found in this Daniel, ^anwhom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

Daniel Interprets the Handwriting

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of ^aothe exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that ^apthe spirit of the gods ^{▼▼Or Spirit of God} is in you, and that ^arlight and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now ^asthe wise men, the ^atenchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but ^authey could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 ^avBut I have heard that you can give interpretations and ^awsolve problems. ^axNow if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, ^ayyou shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and ^azshall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ^ba“Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, the ^bbMost High God ^bcgave ^bdNebuchadnezzar your father ^bekingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, ^bfall peoples, nations, and languages ^bgtrembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 But ^bhwhen his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, ^bihe was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 ^bjHe was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, ^bkuntil he knew that the ^blMost High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son, ^{▼▼Or successor} ^bnBelshazzar, ^bohave not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against ^bpthe Lord of heaven. And ^bqthe vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. ^brAnd you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, ^bsbut the God in whose hand is your breath, and ^btwhose are all your ways, ^buyou have not honored.

24 “Then from his presence ^bvthe hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered ^{▼▼ Mene sounds like the Aramaic for numbered} the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, ^bxyou have been weighed ^{▼▼ Tekel sounds like the Aramaic for weighed} in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to ^bzthe Medes and ^caPersians.” ^{▼▼ Peres (the singular of Parsin) sounds like the Aramaic for divided and for Persia}

29 Then ^ccBelshazzar gave the command, and Daniel ^cdwas clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 ^ceThat very night ^cfBelshazzar the ^cgChaldean king was killed. 31 ^{▼▼Ch 6:1 in Aramaic} And ^ciDarius ^cjthe Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.