Daniel 5:1-12

LEB(i) 1 Belshazzar the king made a great festival for a thousand of his lords,* and in the presence of* the thousand lords he was drinking wine.* 2 When he tasted the wine,* Belshazzar commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his predecessor* had taken from the temple that was in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords,* 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,* 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.* 5 Immediately* human fingers* appeared and they wrote opposite* the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the palace of the king, and the king was watching* the palm of the hand that was writing. 6 Then his face changed and his thoughts terrified him, and his hip joints gave way* and his knees knocked together.* 7 The king cried aloud* to bring in the conjurers,* the astrologers* and the diviners; the king spoke* 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.* 9 Then the king, Belshazzar, became greatly terrified, and his facial features* changed upon him, and his lords* were perplexed. 10 Because of the words of the king and his lords,* the queen came into the banqueting hall* and the queen spoke up* and said, "O king, live forever,* and let not your thoughts terrify you and do not let your facial expressions grow pale.* 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him.* And in the days of your predecessor,* enlightenment and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods was found in him; and, O king, Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor* appointed him as chief of the magicians,* the conjurers,* the astrologers,* and the diviners. Your predecessor* the king did this 12 because* 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* Belteshazzar. Now, let Daniel be called and he will tell the explanation."*