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22 “You are his successor,[a] O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. 23 For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! 24 So God has sent this hand to write this message.

25 “This is the message that was written: Mene, mene, tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is what these words mean:

Mene means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign and has brought it to an end.
27 Tekel means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed on the balances and have not measured up.
28 Parsin[b] means ‘divided’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

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Footnotes

  1. 5:22 Aramaic son.
  2. 5:28 Aramaic Peres, the singular of Parsin.

22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[a] have not humbled(A) yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against(B) the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives(C) and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand.(D) But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life(E) and all your ways.(F) 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

25 “This is the inscription that was written:

mene, mene, tekel, parsin

26 “Here is what these words mean:

Mene[b]: God has numbered the days(G) of your reign and brought it to an end.(H)

27 Tekel[c]: You have been weighed on the scales(I) and found wanting.(J)

28 Peres[d]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes(K) and Persians.”(L)

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 5:22 Or descendant; or successor
  2. Daniel 5:26 Mene can mean numbered or mina (a unit of money).
  3. Daniel 5:27 Tekel can mean weighed or shekel.
  4. Daniel 5:28 Peres (the singular of Parsin) can mean divided or Persia or a half mina or a half shekel.