The writing on the wall

5 Several years later, Belshazzar became the king of Babylon. One day he invited 1,000 of his officers to a big feast, and he drank a lot of wine with them. 2 While he was drinking, he commanded thathis servants bring to him the gold and silver cups that the previous king, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. He did that because he wanted himself and his officials, his wives, and even his ◄concubines/slave wives► to drink from them, making fun of the god that we Israelis worshiped. 3 So his servants brought in all those gold cups, that had been taken many years previously from the temple of the true God in Jerusalem. Then the king and his officials and his wives and his slave wives drank wine from those cups. 4 They drank to praise/honor their idols that were made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and even wood and stone.

5 Suddenly they saw a man’s hand writing on the plaster of the wall opposite the lampstand. The king also saw the hand as it was writing. 6 He became very frightened, and his face became pale/white. His knees started shaking, and his legs became very weak, with the result that he could not stand up.

7 Then he shouted to summon the men who worked magic, the men who studied the stars, and the fortune-tellers. He said, “I will greatly honor any one of them who can read this writing and tell me what it means. I will give him a purple robe like I wear because I am the king, and I will put a gold chain around his neck. He will become a very important official in my kingdom; there will be only two others who will be more important than he will be.”

8 But when all those wise men came in, none of them could read the writing, or tell him what it meant. 9 So King Belshazzar became more afraid. His face became even paler/whiter. And all his officials who were there at the feast did not know what to do.

10 But when the mother of the king (OR, of the previous king) heard the king and his officials talking loudly about what had happened, she entered the room where they were having the feast. She said to Belshazzar, “◄Your majesty/O King►, I hope you will live for a long time! But do not be pale and afraid about this. 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. When Nebuchadnezzar was ruling, they discovered that this man understood many things and was wise, just like the gods. The man who was king previously, Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him to be in charge of all the men in Babylon who worked magic, the men who worked sorcery, the men who studied the stars, and the fortune-tellers. 12 That man’s name is Daniel; the king gave him a new name, Belteshazzar. He is very intelligent and is able to know and understand many things. He is even able to tell the meaning of dreams, and explain riddles, and explain things that are very difficult to understand. Summon him, and he will tell you what this writing means.”