Font Size
Daniel 5:6-8
Amplified Bible
Daniel 5:6-8
Amplified Bible
6 Then the king’s face grew pale, and his thoughts alarmed him; the joints and muscles of his hips and back weakened and his knees began knocking together. 7 The king called aloud to bring in the enchanters (Magi), the Chaldeans [who were master astrologers] and the diviners. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold put around his neck, and have authority as the [a]third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not [b]read the writing or reveal to the king its interpretation.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Daniel 5:7 Nabonidus was first, Belshazzar, his son, was second.
- Daniel 5:8 In light of what Daniel says in v 25, it is hard to escape the conclusion that for some reason the letters were unreadable to the wise men. The ancient rabbis speculated that the words were written in some kind of code that had to be deciphered. Among the suggestions were reversing the order of the letters (e.g. ENM for MENE etc.) and an elaborate puzzle in which the letters of each word were separated and spread out to form three senseless words: “MMTUS NNKFE EELRN” (“M...N...E” etc.).
Daniel 5:6-8
New International Version
Daniel 5:6-8
New International Version
6 His face turned pale(A) and he was so frightened(B) that his legs became weak(C) and his knees were knocking.(D)
7 The king summoned the enchanters,(E) astrologers[a](F) and diviners.(G) Then he said to these wise(H) men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck,(I) and he will be made the third(J) highest ruler in the kingdom.”(K)
8 Then all the king’s wise men(L) came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.(M)
Footnotes
- Daniel 5:7 Or Chaldeans; also in verse 11
Amplified Bible (AMP) 
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.