¹Belshazzar the king held a grand banquet for one thousand of his senior ranking officials, and he drank wine in the presence of the thousand. ²Belshazzar, while tasting the wine, gave an order to bring the gold and silver articles which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which is in Jerusalem, for the king and his high-ranking officials, his consorts and his concubines, to drink from. ³So they brought the golden articles which they had taken out of the temple of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, and the king and his high-ranking officials and his consorts and his concubines drank from them. ⁴They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, copper, iron, wood and stone. ⁵At that very moment the fingers of a man's hand appeared and started writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the palm of the hand which was writing. ⁶At this the king's radiant complexion changed, and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints became loose, and his knees knocked against each other. ⁷The king called out loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king addressed them and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this writing and expound its interpretation to me will be clothed in purple and have a golden chain around his neck, and he will rule as the third in command in the kingdom.” ⁸So all the king's wise men came in, but they were not able to read the writing or to make the interpretation known to the king. ⁹Then King Belshazzar became exceedingly alarmed, and his radiance changed, and his high-ranking officials were perplexed. ¹⁰On account of the words of the king and his high-ranking officials, the queen came into the banqueting house. The queen spoke out and said, “O king, live age-abidingly. Do not let your thoughts alarm you and do not let your radiance change. ¹¹There is a man in your kingdom in whom there is the spirit of holy gods, and in the days of your father, enlightenment and intelligence and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. And as for King Nebuchadnezzar your father, your father the king appointed him head of the magi, enchanters, Chaldeans and diviners, ¹²because a prodigious spirit and knowledge and intelligence in interpreting dreams and cracking riddles and solving problems were found in him – in Daniel – whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now then, let Daniel be called and let him give the interpretation.” ¹³So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king started to speak and said to Daniel, “Are you Daniel, who is one of the deportees from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴For I have heard concerning you that the spirit of gods is in you, and that enlightenment and intelligence and prodigious wisdom have been found in you. ¹⁵And now the wise men and the enchanters were brought into my presence to read this writing and to make its interpretation known to me, but they were not able to expound the meaning of the text. ¹⁶And I have heard concerning you that you are able to give interpretations and to solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make its interpretation known to me, you will be clothed in purple, and you will have a golden chain around your neck, and you will rule as the third in command in the kingdom.” ¹⁷At this Daniel responded and said in the presence of the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another, but I will read the writing to the king, and I will make the interpretation known to him. ¹⁸You are the king, but it is the Most High God who gave the kingdom and the magnificence and the honour and the glory to Nebuchadnezzar your father. ¹⁹And on account of the magnificence which he gave him, all the peoples and nations and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he wished, he killed, and whom he wished, he preserved alive. Whom he wished, he exalted, and whom he wished, he brought low. ²⁰But when his heart became haughty, and his spirit became obdurate to the point of him acting impertinently, he was taken down from his royal throne, and his honour was removed from him. ²¹And he was driven out from human society, and his heart was made like that of animals, and his habitat was with wild asses, and he was fed on grass like oxen, and his body was moistened from the dew of the sky, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is the ruler in the kingdom of man, and that whom he wishes, he appoints over it. ²²And you are his son Belshazzar. You have not humbled your heart, yet you knew all this. ²³And you have exalted yourself over the Lord of heaven, and the articles of his house were brought in before you, and you and your high-ranking officials, your consorts and your concubines have drunk wine from them, and you have praised gods of silver and gold, copper and iron, wood and stone, which do not see and do not hear and do not perceive, but you have not glorified the God in whose hand your breath is and to whom all your ways are answerable. ²⁴So the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed. ²⁵And this is the writing which was inscribed:

‘Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.’

²⁶This is the interpretation of the words: mene – God has summed up your kingdom, and he has brought it to an end; ²⁷tekel – you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; ²⁸peres – your kingdom is divided and is to be given to Media and Persia.” ²⁹Then Belshazzar gave commandment, and they clothed Daniel in purple, and he put a chain of gold around his neck, and he made proclamation concerning him that he was to be the third in command in the kingdom. ³⁰That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. ³¹Darius the Mede received the kingdom when he was sixty-two years old.