Daniel 5:13-31 ▼

13 Then Daniel came in before the king. And the king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you the Daniel of the exiles of Judah whom the king my father brought from Judea?

14 I have heard of you, that the spirit of the holy gods is in you and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

15 And now the magicians and the astrologers have been brought in before me, that they might read this writing and make known to me the interpretation thereof; but they could not show me the interpretation of the thing;

16 And I have heard of you, that you can make interpretations and solve riddles. Now if you can read this writing and make known to me the interpretation thereof, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall rule over a third of the kingdom.

17 Then Daniel answered and said to the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give the honor of your house to others; but the writing I will read 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 honor and glory.

19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him; for whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he promoted, and whom he would he humbled.

20 But when his heart was lifted up and his pride increased, he was deposed from his kingly throne and his glory passed away from him;

21 And he was driven from among men; and his heart became like that of the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; they fed him with grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair grew like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men and that he gives it to whom he pleases and he appoints over it the weakest among men.

22 And you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all these things;

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 princes, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine out of them; and you have praised the gods of gold and silver, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which neither see nor hear nor know; and the God in whose hands is your breath and all your ways, you have not glorified nor honored.

24 Then the palm of the hand was sent from his presence; and this writing was written.

25 And this is the writing that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26 This is the interpretation of the words: MENE, God has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end.

27 TEKEL, You are weighed in the balances and found wanting.

28 PERES, Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

29 Then commanded King Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold about his neck and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be a ruler over a third of the kingdom.

30 In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.

31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.