The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

¹⁶ And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and ^[a]explain enigmas. ^(A)Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. ¹⁸ O king, ^(B)the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your ^[b]father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. ¹⁹ And because of the majesty that He gave him, ^(C)all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he ^(D)executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. ^20 (E)But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. ²¹ Then he was ^(F)driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, ^(G)till he ^[c]knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.

²² “But you his son, Belshazzar, ^(H)have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. ^23 (I)And you have ^[d]lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the ^(J)vessels of ^[e]His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, ^(K)which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand ^(L)and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. ²⁴ Then the ^[f]fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.

²⁵ “And this is the inscription that was written:

^[g]MENE, MENE, ^[h]TEKEL, ^[i]UPHARSIN.

²⁶ This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; ²⁷ TEKEL: ^(M)You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; ²⁸ PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the ^(N)Medes and ^(O)Persians.”^{[j] 29} Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him ^(P)that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

Belshazzar’s Fall

^30 (Q)That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. ^31 (R)And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Conflict over Circumcision

15 And ^(A)certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ^(B)“Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that ^(C)Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

³ So, ^(D)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(E)describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. ⁴ And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

⁶ Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. ⁷ And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: ^(F)“Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. ⁸ So God, ^(G)who knows the heart, ^[a]acknowledged them by ^(H)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, ^9 (I)and made no distinction between us and them, ^(J)purifying their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now therefore, why do you test God ^(K)by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? ¹¹ But ^(L)we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus ^[b]Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

¹² Then all the multitude kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had ^(M)worked through them among the Gentiles.