(A)Prepare the table,
Set a watchman in the tower,
Eat and drink.
Arise, you princes,
Anoint the shield!

Read full chapter

They set the tables,
    they spread the rugs,
    they eat, they drink!(A)
Get up, you officers,
    oil the shields!(B)

Read full chapter

57 “And I will make drunk
Her princes and (A)wise men,
Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men.
And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says (B)the King,
Whose name is the Lord of hosts.

Read full chapter

57 I will make her officials(A) and wise(B) men drunk,(C)
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep(D) forever and not awake,”
    declares the King,(E) whose name is the Lord Almighty.

Read full chapter

39 In their excitement I will prepare their feasts;
(A)I will make them drunk,
That they may rejoice,
And sleep a perpetual sleep
And not awake,” says the Lord.

Read full chapter

39 But while they are aroused,
    I will set out a feast for them
    and make them drunk,(A)
so that they shout with laughter—
    then sleep forever(B) and not awake,”
declares the Lord.(C)

Read full chapter

32 If, in the manner of men, (A)I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me? If the dead do not rise, (B)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Read full chapter

32 If I fought wild beasts(A) in Ephesus(B) with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
    for tomorrow we die.”[a](C)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 15:32 Isaiah 22:13

Belshazzar’s Feast

Belshazzar the king (A)made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand. While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels (B)which his [a]father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought the gold (C)vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, (D)and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

(E)In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 5:2 Or ancestor

The Writing on the Wall

King Belshazzar(A) gave a great banquet(B) for a thousand of his nobles(C) and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking(D) his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets(E) that Nebuchadnezzar his father[a] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines(F) might drink from them.(G) So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods(H) of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.(I)

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 5:2 Or ancestor; or predecessor; also in verses 11, 13 and 18

11 (A)Make[a] the arrows bright!
Gather the shields!
(B)The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes.
(C)For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it,
Because it is (D)the vengeance of the Lord,
The vengeance for His temple.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 51:11 Polish the arrows!

11 “Sharpen the arrows,(A)
    take up the shields!(B)
The Lord has stirred up the kings(C) of the Medes,(D)
    because his purpose(E) is to destroy Babylon.
The Lord will take vengeance,(F)
    vengeance for his temple.(G)

Read full chapter

27 (A)Set up a banner in the land,
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
(B)Prepare the nations against her,
Call (C)the kingdoms together against her:
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a general against her;
Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts.
28 Prepare against her the nations,
With the kings of the Medes,
Its governors and all its rulers,
All the land of his dominion.

Read full chapter

27 “Lift up a banner(A) in the land!
    Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
    summon against her these kingdoms:(B)
    Ararat,(C) Minni and Ashkenaz.(D)
Appoint a commander against her;
    send up horses like a swarm of locusts.(E)
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
    the kings of the Medes,(F)
their governors and all their officials,
    and all the countries they rule.(G)

Read full chapter

Cyrus, God’s Instrument

45 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To (A)Cyrus, whose (B)right hand I have [a]held—
(C)To subdue nations before him
And (D)loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
‘I will go before you
(E)And[b] make the [c]crooked places straight;
(F)I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
(G)That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who (H)call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:1 strengthened or sustained
  2. Isaiah 45:2 Tg. I will trample down the walls; Vg. I will humble the great ones of the earth
  3. Isaiah 45:2 DSS, LXX mountains

45 “This is what the Lord says to his anointed,(A)
    to Cyrus,(B) whose right hand I take hold(C) of
to subdue nations(D) before him
    and to strip kings of their armor,
to open doors before him
    so that gates will not be shut:
I will go before you(E)
    and will level(F) the mountains[a];
I will break down gates(G) of bronze
    and cut through bars of iron.(H)
I will give you hidden treasures,(I)
    riches stored in secret places,(J)
so that you may know(K) that I am the Lord,
    the God of Israel, who summons you by name.(L)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 45:2 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; the meaning of the word in the Masoretic Text is uncertain.

13 But instead, joy and gladness,
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and (A)drinking wine:
(B)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

14 (C)Then it was revealed in my hearing by the Lord of hosts,
“Surely for this iniquity there (D)will be no atonement for you,
Even to your death,” says the Lord God of hosts.

Read full chapter

13 But see, there is joy and revelry,(A)
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!(B)
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
    “for tomorrow we die!”(C)

14 The Lord Almighty has revealed this in my hearing:(D) “Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned(E) for,” says the Lord, the Lord Almighty.

Read full chapter

17 “Behold,(A) I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not [a]regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 13:17 esteem

17 See, I will stir up(A) against them the Medes,(B)
    who do not care for silver
    and have no delight in gold.(C)
18 Their bows(D) will strike down the young men;(E)
    they will have no mercy(F) on infants,
    nor will they look with compassion on children.(G)

Read full chapter

“Lift(A) up a banner (B)on the high mountain,
Raise your voice to them;
(C)Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.

Read full chapter

Raise a banner(A) on a bare hilltop,
    shout to them;
beckon to them
    to enter the gates(B) of the nobles.

Read full chapter