Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹³ Dani’el was brought into the king’s presence. The king said to Dani’el, “Are you Dani’el, one of the exiles from Y’hudah whom the king my father brought out of Y’hudah? ¹⁴ I’ve heard about you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you have been found to have light, discernment and extraordinary wisdom. ¹⁵ Now the sages, the exorcists, were brought in to me so that they could read this inscription and tell me what it means, but they couldn’t interpret it for me. ¹⁶ However, I’ve heard that you can give interpretations and solve knotty problems. Now if you can read the inscription and tell me what it means, you will be dressed in royal purple, wear a gold chain around your neck and be one of the three men ruling the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Dani’el answered the king, “Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else. However, I will read the inscription to the king and tell him what it means. ¹⁸ Your majesty, the Most High God gave N’vukhadnetzar your father the kingdom, as well as greatness, glory and majesty. ¹⁹ Because of the greatness he gave him, all the peoples, nations and languages trembled with fear before him. Anyone he wanted to, he put to death; anyone he wanted to, he kept alive; anyone he wanted to, he advanced; and anyone he wanted to, he humbled. ²⁰ But when he grew proud and his spirit became hard, he began treating people arrogantly, so he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken away from him. ²¹ He was driven from human society, his heart was made like that of an animal, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed with grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky; until he learned that the Most High God rules in the human kingdom and sets up over it whomever he pleases. ²² But, Belshatzar, you, his son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven by having them bring you the vessels from his house; and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them; then you offered praise to your gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone, which can’t see, hear or know anything. Meanwhile, God, who holds your very breath in his hands, and to whom belongs everything you do, you have not glorified. ²⁴ This is why he sent the hand to write this inscription; ²⁵ and the inscription says, ‘M’ne! M’ne! T’kel ufarsin.’ ^{[a] 26} This is what it means: ‘M’ne!’ — God has counted up your kingdom and brought it to an end. ²⁷ ‘T’kel’ — you are weighed on the balance-scale and come up short. ²⁸ ‘P’res’ — your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹ Then Belshatzar gave the order; and they clothed Dani’el in royal purple, put a gold chain around his neck and proclaimed of him that he was to be one of the three men ruling the kingdom.

³⁰ That very night Belshatzar, the king of the Kasdim, was killed.

²⁸ “But give me your opinion: a man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ²⁹ He answered, ‘I don’t want to’; but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰ The father went to his other son and said the same thing. This one answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he didn’t go. ³¹ Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they replied. “That’s right!” Yeshua said to them. “I tell you that the tax-collectors and prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you! ³² For Yochanan came to you showing the path to righteousness, and you wouldn’t trust him. The tax-collectors and prostitutes trusted him; but you, even after you saw this, didn’t change your minds later and trust him.