Belshazzar’s Feast

5 Belshazzar the king ^(A)made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. ² While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels ^(B)which his ^[a]father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. ³ Then they brought the gold ^(C)vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. ⁴ They drank wine, ^(D)and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

^5 (E)In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. ⁶ Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his ^(F)knees knocked against each other. ^7 (G)The king cried ^[b]aloud to bring in ^(H)the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; ^(I)and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” ⁸ Now all the king’s wise men came, ^(J)but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation. ⁹ Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^(K)troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were ^[c]astonished.

¹⁰ The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change. ^11 (L)There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your ^[d]father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your ^[e]father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. ¹² Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and ^[f]explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, ^(M)whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”

The Writing on the Wall Explained

¹³ Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel ^[g]who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my ^[h]father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard of you, that ^(N)the ^[i]Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. ¹⁵ Now ^(O)the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing. ¹⁶ And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and ^[j]explain enigmas. ^(P)Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. ¹⁸ O king, ^(Q)the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your ^[k]father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. ¹⁹ And because of the majesty that He gave him, ^(R)all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he ^(S)executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. ^20 (T)But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. ²¹ Then he was ^(U)driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, ^(V)till he ^[l]knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.

²² “But you his son, Belshazzar, ^(W)have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. ^23 (X)And you have ^[m]lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the ^(Y)vessels of ^[n]His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, ^(Z)which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand ^(AA)and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. ²⁴ Then the ^[o]fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.

²⁵ “And this is the inscription that was written:

^[p]MENE, MENE, ^[q]TEKEL, ^[r]UPHARSIN.

²⁶ This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; ²⁷ TEKEL: ^(AB)You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; ²⁸ PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the ^(AC)Medes and ^(AD)Persians.”^{[s] 29} Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him ^(AE)that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Belshazzar’s Fall

^30 (AF)That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. ^31 (AG)And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Destructive Doctrines

2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be ^(A)false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³ By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction ^[a]does not slumber.

Doom of False Teachers

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to ^[b]hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of ^(B)Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; ⁷ and ^(C)delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, ^(D)tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— ⁹ then ^(E)the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially ^(F)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. ^(G)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of ^[c]dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas ^(H)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

¹² But these, ^(I)like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, ^13 (J)and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure ^(K)to ^[d]carouse in the daytime. ^(L)They are spots and blemishes, ^[e]carousing in their own deceptions while ^(M)they feast with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of ^[f]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. ^(N)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. ¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(O)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

^17 (P)These are wells without water, ^[g]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness ^[h]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[i]have actually escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of ^[j]corruption; ^(Q)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into ^[k]bondage. ²⁰ For if, after they ^(R)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are ^(S)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For ^(T)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ^(U)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

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