Daniel interpreted the writing

13 So they went and brought me in. The king asked me, “You must be Daniel [RHQ]! They told me that you are one of those who was brought here from Judah by the previous king. 14 I have also heard that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that you are very wise and understand many things. 15 My wise men and men who work magic have tried to read the writing on this wall and tell me what it means, but they are not able to do it. 16 Someone told me that you can tell what dreams mean and explain things that are very difficult to understand. If you can read these words and tell me what they mean, I will give you a purple robe like I wear because I am the king, and I will put a gold chain around your neck. You will become a very important official in my kingdom; there will be only two others who will be more important than you will be.”

17 I replied, “I do not want your gifts; keep them, or give them to someone else. But I will read for you the writing on the wall, and I will tell you what it means.

18 ◄Your Majesty/O king►, the Supreme God caused the man who was king before you, Nebuchadnezzar, to become a great ruler, who was greatly praised and honored. 19 Because God caused him to become very great, people of many [HYP] people-groups and nations and who spoke many different languages were very much afraid of him. He commanded his soldiers to kill those whom he wanted to be killed, and he ◄spared/allowed to live► those whom he wanted to spare. He honored those whom he wanted to honor, and he caused to be disgraced those whom he wanted to be disgraced. 20 But when he became very proud and stubborn [IDM], he was removed from being king [MTY]. People did not consider him to be glorious/great any more. 21 His officials sent him away in order that he would not be near other people. God caused him to have a mind like animals have. He lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like cows do, and dew from the sky caused his body to be damp/wet each morning. He was like that until he learned that the Supreme God is really the one who rules the kingdoms of this world, and that he appoints whomever he chooses to rule those kingdoms.

22 Now, Belshazzar, you have become the king. You also knew all those things, but you have not made yourself humble. 23 You have considered yourself to be greater than God, the Lord of heaven. So you have commanded your servants to bring to you these sacred cups, which were dedicated to the Supreme God, and which were taken from his temple in Jerusalem. You and your officials and your wives and your ◄concubines/slave wives► have been drinking wine from these cups, while you have been praising your own gods—gods which are made of gold and silver and bronze and iron and wood and stone. Those are gods that cannot see, that cannot hear, and that do not know anything! You have not honored the God who gives you breath and who controls everything that happens to you. 24 So God sent that hand to write a message for you.

25 This is the message that it wrote: ‘Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.’

26 This is what those words mean:

• Mene means ‘numbered/counted’. That means that God has been counting the days that you will rule, and he has now decided that you will not rule any more.
• 27 Tekel means ‘weighed’. It is as though God has weighed you on a scale, and you do not weigh what you should, which means that you have not been doing what you should; you are not fit to be a king [MET].
• 28 Parsin means ‘divided’. That means that God has divided your kingdom. Some of it will be ruled by people from Media and some will be ruled by people from Persia.”

29 Then Belshazzar did what he had promised. He put on me a purple robe like the one he himself wore. He put a gold chain around my neck. And he proclaimed that there would be only two others who would be more important than me in his kingdom.

30 But that same night soldiers from Media entered the city and killed Belshazzar, the King of Babylonia. 31 Darius, the King of Media, became the King of Babylonia when he was 62 years old.