The Mysterious Writing on the Wall

5 Belshazzar the king made a great festival for a thousand of his lords,[fn] and in the presence of[fn] the thousand lords he was drinking wine.[fn] 2 When he tasted the wine,[fn] Belshazzar commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his predecessor[fn] had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords,[fn] his wives and his concubines may drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the vessels of gold that they took from the temple, the house of God that was in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords,[fn] his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.[fn]

5 Immediately[fn] human fingers[fn] appeared and they wrote opposite[fn] the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching[fn] the palm of the hand that was writing. 6 Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and his hip joints gave way[fn] and his knees knocked together.[fn] 7 The king cried aloud[fn] to bring in the conjurers,[fn] the astrologers[fn] and the diviners; the king spoke[fn] and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man that can read this writing and can tell me its explanation will be clothed in purple and will have a necklace of gold hung around his neck and he will rule as third in authority in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the wise men of the king came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make known its explanation.[fn] 9 Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and his facial features[fn] changed upon him, and his lords[fn] were perplexed.

10 Because of the words of the king and his lords,[fn] the queen came into the banqueting hall[fn] and the queen spoke up[fn] and said, “O king, live forever,[fn] and let not your thoughts terrify you and do not let your facial expressions grow pale.[fn] 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.[fn] And in the days of your predecessor,[fn] enlightenment and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him; and, O king, Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor[fn] appointed him as chief of the magicians,[fn] the conjurers,[fn] the astrologers,[fn] and the diviners. Your predecessor[fn] the king did this 12 because[fn] there was found in him an excellent spirit and understanding and insight for interpreting dreams and explaining riddles and solving riddles; that is, in Daniel whom the king named[fn] Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell the explanation.”[fn]