Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 O Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer,
and give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Behold, O God our shield,
and look upon the face of Your anointed.
10 For a day in Your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord will give favor and glory,
for no good thing will He withhold
from the one who walks uprightly.
12 O Lord of Hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in You.
Daniel Interprets the Writing
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the sons of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? 14 Now I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you; and that light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the matter. 16 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing, and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with scarlet and have a chain of gold about 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, or give your rewards to another. Yet I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.
18 “O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor. 19 And for the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he slaughtered, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he set up, and whom he would, he put down. 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him. 21 And he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that He appoints over it whomever He wills.
22 “Yet you, his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; 23 but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine in them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know. And the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified. 24 Then the hand was sent from Him, and this inscription was written.
25 “This is the inscription that was written:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26 “This is the interpretation of the message:
Mene:[a] God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.
27 Tekel:[b] you have been weighed in the balances and are found wanting.
28 Peres:[c] your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That same night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain. 31 Then Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’
29 “He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he repented and went.
30 “Then he came to the second, and said likewise. He answered, ‘I will go, sir,’ but did not go.
31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.