Belshazzar’s Feast

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

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing.

²⁵ “Now this is the inscription that was written:

²⁶ This is the interpretation of the ^[e]message: ‘Menē’—God has numbered your kingdom and ^(A)put an end to it. ²⁷ ‘Tekēl’—you have been ^(B)weighed on the scales and found deficient. ²⁸ ‘^[f]Perēs’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the ^(C)Medes and ^[g]Persians.”

²⁹ Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they ^(D)clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ That same night ^(E)Belshazzar the Chaldean king was ^(F)killed.