Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

¹³ So Daniel was brought before the king and the king said to Daniel, “Are you Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah that my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard about you, how a spirit of the gods is in you and how there has been found in you insight, discernment and extraordinary wisdom. ¹⁵ Just now the wise men and diviners were brought before me to read this writing and to make its meaning known to me, but they are unable to declare its interpretation. ¹⁶ However, I have heard about you that you are able to provide interpretations and to solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the writing and explain to me its meaning, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain around your neck and have the authority to rule as the third in the kingdom.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king saying, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and tell him its meaning. ¹⁸ Your majesty, God Most High gave your father Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom, as well as greatness, glory, and splendor. ¹⁹ Because of the grandeur that He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and languages dreaded and feared him. He killed whomever he wanted and spared anyone he wanted; he raised up whomever he wished and humbled anyone he wished. ²⁰ But when his heart became haughty and his spirit hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹ He was driven away from among men and his mind became like an animal, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he fed on grass like an ox, and his body was damp with the dew of heaven until he recognized that God Most High is sovereign over the realm of mankind and that He sets up over it whomever He wills.

²² “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ Instead you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels of His House brought before you, and you and your nobles, your consorts and your concubines have been drinking wine in them. You have praised the gods made of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. Yet you did not honor the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways. ²⁴ Therefore, the hand was sent from Him that wrote this inscription.

²⁵ “Now this is the writing that was inscribed:

MENE, MENE, TEKEL UPARSIN.

²⁶ This is the interpretation of the inscription:

MENE: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

²⁷ TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.

²⁸ PERES: Your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹ Then at Belshazzar’s command, they clothed Daniel with purple, put a chain of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation about him that he would have the authority as third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ On that very night King Belshazzar of the Chaldeans was slain.

A Parable about Intentions and Actions

²⁸ “Now what do you think? A man had two sons, and he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹ The son answered, ‘I won’t,’ but afterward he had a change of heart and went. ³⁰ The man went to the second son and said the same thing. But he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ and didn’t go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of the father?”

“The first,” they said.

Yeshua said to them, “Amen, I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and even after you saw this, you had no change of heart to believe him.”