³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings.^(A) The God of heaven has given you dominion^(B) and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all.^(C) You are that head of gold.

⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!^(A) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed^(B) you^(C) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

⁶ Now I will give all your countries into the hands of my servant^(A) Nebuchadnezzar^(B) king of Babylon; I will make even the wild animals subject to him.^{(C) 7} All nations will serve^(D) him and his son and his grandson until the time^(E) for his land comes; then many nations and great kings will subjugate^(F) him.

⁸ “‘“If, however, any nation or kingdom will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon or bow its neck under his yoke, I will punish^(G) that nation with the sword,^(H) famine^(I) and plague,^(J) declares the Lord, until I destroy it by his hand.

⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.”^(A)

¹⁸ “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar^(A) sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.^{(B) 19} Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death;^(C) those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.^{(D) 20} But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride,^(E) he was deposed from his royal throne^(F) and stripped^(G) of his glory.^{(H) 21} He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign^(I) over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.^(J)

²² “But you, Belshazzar, his son,^[a] have not humbled^(K) yourself, though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have set yourself up against^(L) the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives^(M) 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.^(N) But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life^(O) and all your ways.^(P)