The Handwriting on the Wall

5 ^(A)King Belshazzar ^(B)made a great feast for a thousand of his ^(C)lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

^2 (D)Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that ^(E)the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father^[a] had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. ³ Then they brought in ^(F)the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. ⁴ They drank wine and ^(G)praised the ^(H)gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

^5 (I)Immediately ^(J)the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw ^(K)the hand as it wrote. ^6 (L)Then the king's color changed, ^(M)and his thoughts alarmed him; ^(N)his limbs gave way, and ^(O)his knees knocked together. ^7 (P)The king called loudly to bring in ^(Q)the enchanters, the ^(R)Chaldeans, and ^(S)the astrologers. The king declared^[b] to the wise men of Babylon, ^(T)“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and ^(U)shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” ⁸ Then all the king's wise men came in, but ^(V)they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. ⁹ Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^(W)alarmed, and his ^(X)color changed, and his ^(Y)lords were perplexed.

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered and said before the king, ^(A)“Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.

²³ but you have lifted up yourself against ^(A)the Lord of heaven. And ^(B)the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. ^(C)And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, ^(D)but the God in whose hand is your breath, and ^(E)whose are all your ways, ^(F)you have not honored.

²⁴ “Then from his presence ^(G)the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. ²⁵ And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. ²⁶ This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered^[a] the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; ²⁷ Tekel, ^(H)you have been weighed^[b] in the balances and found wanting; ²⁸ Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to ^(I)the Medes and ^(J)Persians.”^[c]