Daniel 5
1KING Baltasar made a great supper for his thousand grandees and wine was set before the thousand. And as he was drinking,
2Baltasar gave an order upon tasting the wine, to bring the vessels of gold and silver which Nabuchodonosor, his father, had brought out of the temple at Jerusalem; and that the king and his nobles, and his concubines and his wives should drink out of them.
3Accordingly, the vessels of gold and silver which had been taken out of the temple of God at Jerusalem were brought, and the king and his nobles and his concubines and his wives drank out of them.
4And having drunk wine they praised the gods of gold and silver and brass and wood and stone.
5At that very hour there came forth fingers of a man’s hand and wrote over against the lamp, on the plastering of the wall of the king’s palace. And the king beheld with astonishment the joint of the hand that was writing.
6Whereupon the king’s countenance changed and his thoughts troubled him and the joints of his loins were loosened and his knees smote one against another.
7And the king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, Chaldeans, [and] soothsayers. And he said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing and explain to me the meaning, he shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold for his neck and shall be a chief, third in rank, in my kingdom.
8And when all the king’s wise men came in and could neither read the writing nor explain the meaning to the king,
9king Baltasar was agitated and his countenance changed, and his nobles were in like trepidation.
10Then the queen came to the banquet house and said, O king, live forever! Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance change.
11There is in thy kingdom a man, in whom is a spirit of a god, and in the days of thy father, light and knowledge were found in him, and the king Nabuchodonosor, thy father, appointed him chief of the magicians, Chaldeans, [and] soothsayers,
12because of the extraordinary spirit in him, and of his understanding and knowledge in the interpretation of dreams, and explaining hard sentences and solving difficulties—namely, Daniel, whom the king surnamed Baltasar. Now therefore let him be called in and he will tell thee the meaning of this.
13Thereupon Daniel was brought in before the king. And the king said to Daniel, Thou art Daniel? One of the captives of Juda whom the king my father brought hither?
14I have heard of thee that there is in thee a spirit of a god, and that light and knowledge and extraordinary wisdom have been found in thee.
15Now the wise men, astrologers, [and] soothsayers have come in before me to read that writing and make known to me the meaning of it, but they are not able to tell me.
16But I have heard of thee that thou canst solve difficulties. Now therefore if thou canst read that writing and explain to me the meaning of it, thou shalt be clothed in purple and have a chain of gold for thy neck and be a chief, third in rank, in my kingdom.
17Then Daniel said before the king, Let thy gifts be thine own, and give to another the honour of thy household; but the writing I will read, and I will explain to thee the meaning of it.
18O king, God, the Most High gave to Nabuchodonosar, thy father, this kingdom and majesty and glory and honour.
19And because of the majesty which He gave him, all the peoples, tribes and languages trembled and were struck with awe at his presence. Whom he would he slew, and whom he would he smote, and whom he would he set up, and whom he would he put down.
20But when his heart became elated and his spirit emboldened to shew its arrogance, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom and his glory was taken from him;
21and he was driven from among men, and his heart was disposed to associate with the beasts; and his dwelling was with the wild asses, and he was fed with grass like an ox; and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, till he was made to know that the Most High God ruleth over the kingdom of men and can give it to whom He will.
22Now thou, Baltasar, his son, hast not therefore humbled thy heart before this God. Hast thou not known all these things?
23Yet thou hast exalted thyself against the Lord God of heaven. And the vessels of His house have been brought before thee, and thou and thy nobles and thy concubines and thy wives have drunk wine out of them, and thou hast praised the gods of gold and silver and brass and iron and wood and stone, which neither see nor hear, nor understand. But the God in Whose hand is thy breath and all thy ways—Him thou hast not glorified.
24For this cause a joint of a hand hath been sent from His presence, and it hath sketched this writing.
25Now this is what is written, Mane, Thekel, Phares.*
26The interpretation of the decree is this: Mane—God hath measured thy kingdom and brought it to a conclusion.
27Thekel—It hath been weighed in a balance and found wanting.
28Phares—Thy kingdom is taken away and given to Medes and Persians.
29Then Baltasar gave orders and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold about his neck, and proclamation was made concerning him that he was a chief, third in rank, in the kingdom.
30And that very night Baltasar the Chaldean king was slain,
31and Darius the Mede assumed the kingdom, being sixty-two years of age.