Daniel 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 5
The Writing on the Wall. 1 King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, with whom he drank. 2 Under the influence of the wine, he ordered the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar, his father,[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, to be brought in so that the king, his nobles, his consorts, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 When the gold vessels taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, had been brought in, and while the king, his nobles, his consorts, and his concubines were drinking 4 wine from them, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
5 Suddenly, opposite the lampstand, the fingers of a human hand appeared, writing on the plaster of the wall in the king’s palace. When the king saw the hand that wrote, 6 his face became pale; his thoughts terrified him, his hip joints shook, and his knees knocked. 7 The king shouted for the enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners to be brought in. “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means,” he said to the wise men of Babylon, “shall be clothed in purple, wear a chain of gold around his neck, and be third in governing the kingdom.” 8 But though all the king’s wise men came in, none of them could either read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly terrified; his face became pale, and his nobles were thrown into confusion.
10 When the queen heard of the discussion between the king and his nobles, she entered the banquet hall and said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts terrify you, or your face become so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods; during the lifetime of your father he showed brilliant insight and god-like wisdom. King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners. 12 Because this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, has shown an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and insight in interpreting dreams, explaining riddles and solving problems, let him now be summoned to tell you what this means.”
13 Then Daniel was brought into the presence of the king. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel, one of the Jewish exiles, whom my father, the king, brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, that you have shown brilliant insight and extraordinary wisdom. 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought in to me to read this writing and tell me its meaning, but they could not say what the words meant. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems; now, if you are able to read the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be clothed in purple, wear a chain of gold around your neck, and be third in governing the kingdom.”
17 Daniel answered the king: “You may keep your gifts, or give your presents to someone else; but the writing I will read for the king, and tell what it means. 18 The Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar kingship, greatness, splendor, and majesty. 19 Because he made him so great, the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Whomever he willed, he would kill or let live; whomever he willed, he would exalt or humble. 20 But when his heart became proud and his spirit hardened by insolence, he was put down from his royal throne and deprived of his glory; 21 (A)he was cast out from human society and his heart was made like that of a beast; he lived with wild asses, and ate grass like an ox; his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God is sovereign over human kingship and sets over it whom he will. 22 You, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; 23 you have rebelled against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels of his temple brought before you, so that you and your nobles, your consorts and your concubines, might drink wine from them; and you praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, that neither see nor hear nor have intelligence. But the God in whose hand is your very breath and the whole course of your life, you did not glorify. 24 By him was the hand sent, and the writing set down.
25 “This is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Tekel, and Peres.[b] These words mean: 26 [c]Mene, God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then by order of Belshazzar they clothed Daniel in purple, with a chain of gold around his neck, and proclaimed him third in governing the kingdom. 30 That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was slain:
Footnotes
- 5:2 Nebuchadnezzar, his father: between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar several kings ruled in Babylon. Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus, and he acted as regent in Babylon during his father’s absence.
- 5:25 Mene, Tekel, and Peres: these seem to be the Aramaic names of weights and monetary values: the mina, the shekel (the sixtieth part of a mina), and the parsu (a half-mina).
- 5:26–28 Daniel interprets these three terms by a play on the words: Mene, connected with the verb meaning to number; Tekel, with the verb meaning to weigh; Peres, with the verb meaning to divide. There is also a play on the last term with the word for Persians.
Daniel 5
Lexham English Bible
The Mysterious Writing on the Wall
5 Belshazzar the king made a great festival for a thousand of his lords,[a] and in the presence of[b] the thousand lords he was drinking wine.[c] 2 When he tasted the wine,[d] Belshazzar commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his predecessor[e] had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords,[f] his wives and his concubines may drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the vessels of gold that they took from the temple, the house of God that was in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords,[g] his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.[h]
5 Immediately[i] human fingers[j] appeared and they wrote opposite[k] the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching[l] the palm of the hand that was writing. 6 Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and his hip joints gave way[m] and his knees knocked together.[n] 7 The king cried aloud[o] to bring in the conjurers,[p] the astrologers[q] and the diviners; the king spoke[r] and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed in purple and will have a necklace of gold hung around his neck and he will rule as third in authority in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation.[s] 9 Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and his facial features[t] changed upon him, and his lords[u] were perplexed.
10 Because of the words of the king and his lords,[v] the queen came into the banqueting hall[w] and the queen spoke up[x] and said, “O king, live forever,[y] and let not your thoughts terrify you and do not let your facial expressions grow pale.[z] 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.[aa] And in the days of your predecessor,[ab] enlightenment and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him; and, O king, Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor[ac] appointed him as chief of the magicians,[ad] the conjurers,[ae] the astrologers,[af] and the diviners. Your predecessor[ag] the king did this 12 because[ah] there was found in him an excellent spirit and understanding and insight for interpreting dreams and explaining riddles and solving riddles; that is, in Daniel whom the king named[ai] Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell the explanation.”[aj]
Daniel Deciphers and Interprets the Writing
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king, and the king spoke[ak] and said to Daniel, “You are Daniel who are one of the exiles[al] of Judah[am] whom my predecessor,[an] the king, brought from Judah.[ao] 14 And I have heard that a spirit of the gods is in you and enlightenment and insight and excellent wisdom was found in you. 15 And now the wise men and the conjurers[ap] were brought in before me so that they could read this writing in order to make its explanation[aq] known to me, but they were not able to disclose the explanation[ar] of the matter. 16 But I have heard concerning you that you are able to produce interpretations[as] and to solve riddles; now if you are able to read the writing and to make known its explanation[at] to me, you will be clothed in purple and a necklace of gold will be placed around your neck and you will rule as third in command in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself or your rewards give to another; nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and I will make known to him the explanation.[au] 18 O king,[av] the Most High God gave the kingdom and the greatness and the glory and the majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor.[aw] 19 And because of the greatness that he gave to him, all the peoples, the nations and languages trembled and feared before him; whomever he wanted he killed, and whomever he wanted he let live, and whomever he wanted he honored, and whomever he wanted he humbled. 20 But when[ax] his heart became arrogant and his spirit became hard so as to act proudly, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom and the[ay] glory was taken away from him.[az] 21 And he was driven away from human society[ba] and his mind was made like the animals[bb] and his dwelling was with the wild asses; and he was given[bc] grass like oxen to eat, and with[bd] the dew of heaven his body was bathed, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and whoever[be] he wants he sets over it.
22 “But you his successor,[bf] Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart even though[bg] you knew all this. 23 And now you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his temple you have brought in before you, and you and your lords,[bh] your wives and your concubines, have been drinking wine from[bi] them, and you have praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone[bj] that do not see and do not hear and do not know, but the God who holds your life in his hand[bk] and all of your ways come from him,[bl] you have not honored. 24 So then the palm of the hand was sent out from his presence and this writing was inscribed.
25 “Now this was the writing that was inscribed: ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.’
26 “This is the explanation of the matter:[bm] ‘Mene’—God has numbered your kingdom and brought an end to it.
27 “‘Tekel’—you have been weighed on scales and you have been found wanting.[bn]
28 “‘Peres’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’”
29 Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple and placed a necklace of gold around his neck, and they made a proclamation concerning him that he would be the third ruler in authority in the kingdom. 30 That same night[bo] Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. 31 [bp] And Darius the Mede received the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old.[bq]
Footnotes
- Daniel 5:1 Or “nobles”
- Daniel 5:1 Literally “to over against”
- Daniel 5:1 Or “the wine”
- Daniel 5:2 Literally “At the taste of the wine”
- Daniel 5:2 Literally “father”
- Daniel 5:2 Or “nobles”
- Daniel 5:3 Or “nobles”
- Daniel 5:4 All these metals have the definite article that does not have to be translated into English to retain the meaning
- Daniel 5:5 Literally “In its the hour”
- Daniel 5:5 Literally “fingers of the hand of a man”
- Daniel 5:5 Literally “to over against”
- Daniel 5:5 Or “gazing at”
- Daniel 5:6 Literally “the limbs of his hip became loose”
- Daniel 5:6 Literally “his knees this to this they knocked together”
- Daniel 5:7 Literally “with strength”
- Daniel 5:7 Or “enchanters”
- Daniel 5:7 Literally “Chaldeans”
- Daniel 5:7 Literally “answered”
- Daniel 5:8 Aramaic “the explanation/ interpretation”
- Daniel 5:9 Literally “shining of his face”
- Daniel 5:9 Or “nobles”
- Daniel 5:10 Or “nobles”
- Daniel 5:10 Literally “the house of the drinking”
- Daniel 5:10 Literally “answered”
- Daniel 5:10 Literally “to eternity”
- Daniel 5:10 Literally “change”
- Daniel 5:11 Literally “who the spirit of holy gods is in him”
- Daniel 5:11 Literally “father”
- Daniel 5:11 Literally “father”
- Daniel 5:11 Or “soothsayer-priests”
- Daniel 5:11 Or “enchanters”
- Daniel 5:11 Literally “Chaldeans”
- Daniel 5:11 Literally “father”
- Daniel 5:12 Literally “all of because that”
- Daniel 5:12 Literally “whom the king gave his name”
- Daniel 5:12 Or “interpretation”
- Daniel 5:13 Literally “answered”
- Daniel 5:13 Literally “who from sons of the exile”
- Daniel 5:13 Aramaic “Jehud”
- Daniel 5:13 Literally “father”
- Daniel 5:13 Aramaic “Jehud”
- Daniel 5:15 Or “enchanters”
- Daniel 5:15 Or “interpretation”
- Daniel 5:15 Or “interpretation”
- Daniel 5:16 Literally “to interpret interpretations”
- Daniel 5:16 Or “interpretation”
- Daniel 5:17 Or “interpretation”
- Daniel 5:18 Literally “You, O king”
- Daniel 5:18 Literally “father”
- Daniel 5:20 Literally “as that”
- Daniel 5:20 Or “his”
- Daniel 5:20 Literally “they took away”
- Daniel 5:21 Literally “from the sons of the humankind”
- Daniel 5:21 Aramaic “with the animals”
- Daniel 5:21 Literally “they gave him”
- Daniel 5:21 Aramaic “from”
- Daniel 5:21 Literally “to from that”
- Daniel 5:22 Literally “son”
- Daniel 5:22 Literally “all of because that”
- Daniel 5:23 Or “nobles”
- Daniel 5:23 Aramaic “with”
- Daniel 5:23 All the materials in this list have the definite article that does not have to be translated into English
- Daniel 5:23 Literally “who your breath is in his hand”
- Daniel 5:23 Literally “belong to him”
- Daniel 5:26 Or “word, message”
- Daniel 5:27 Or “deficient”
- Daniel 5:30 Literally “In it, in the night”
- Daniel 5:31 Daniel 5:31–6:28 in the English Bible is 6:1–29 in the Hebrew Bible
- Daniel 5:31 Literally “when a son of sixty and two years”
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