25 “Now this is the inscription that was written:

[a]Menē, [b]Menē, [c]Tekēl, [d]Upharsin.’

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.”

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 5:25 Or a mina (50 shekels) from verb “to count”
  2. Daniel 5:25 Or a mina (50 shekels) from verb “to count”
  3. Daniel 5:25 Or a shekel from verb “to weigh”
  4. Daniel 5:25 Or and half-shekels (singular: perēs) from verb “to divide”
  5. Daniel 5:26 Lit word
  6. Daniel 5:28 Or half-shekel from verb “to divide”
  7. Daniel 5:28 Aram: Pāras

25 “This is the [a]inscription that was written, ‘mene, mene, tekel, upharsin [numbered, numbered, weighed, and divided].’ 26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘mene’—God has numbered the days of your kingdom and put an end to it; 27 tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient; 28 [b]peres’—[c]your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and [d]Persians.”

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 5:25 These words are ordinary Aramaic from that time, so some commentators have speculated that the wise men recognized them but just could not put them into orderly sentences. Yet here Daniel seems to clearly “read” the words simply by pronouncing them in Aramaic (cf note v 8). His interpretation (vv 26-28) goes far beyond what the simple words mean by themselves.
  2. Daniel 5:28 The singular of upharsin (see v 25).
  3. Daniel 5:28 Foretold in Is 21:2, 5, 9.
  4. Daniel 5:28 Aram Paras.