1 ever. 22, 29, 30; ch. 7:1; 8:1 King BelshazzarfSee Esth. 1:3 made a great feast for a thousand of hisgch. 4:36; 6:17 lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2 e[See ver. 1 above] Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded thathver. 23; See ch. 1:2 the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father1Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18 had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought inh[See ver. 2 above] the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine andiver. 23; [Judg. 16:24] praised thejver. 23; [Rev. 9:20]; See Ps. 115:4-7 gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 k[ch. 4:31] Immediatelyl[Ezek. 8:3] the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king sawmver. 24 the hand as it wrote. 6 n[ver. 10; ch. 7:28] Then the king's color changed,o[ch. 4:5, 19; 7:28] and his thoughts alarmed him;p[Ps. 69:23; Isa. 45:1] his limbs gave way, andqNah. 2:10 his knees knocked together. 7 r[ch. 2:2; 4:6] The king called loudly to bring inr[ch. 2:2; 4:6] the enchanters, thesSee ch. 1:4 Chaldeans, andtch. 2:27 the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon,uver. 16, 29; [ch. 2:6] “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck andvver. 16, 29 shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. ” 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, butwver. 15; ch. 4:7, 18; [ch. 2:27; Gen. 41:8] they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatlyx[ch. 2:1] alarmed, and hisn[See ver. 6 above] color changed, and hisyver. 1 lords were perplexed.
10 The queen,1Or queen mother; twice in this verse because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared,zSee ch. 2:4 “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm youa[ver. 6, 9] or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdombSee ch. 4:8 in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.1Or Spirit of the holy God In the days of your father,c[ch. 1:20] light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—dch. 4:9; [ch. 2:48] made him chief of the magicians,r[See ver. 7 above] enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 ech. 6:3 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, andfSee ch. 1:17 understandingfSee ch. 1:17 to interpret dreams, explain riddles, andgver. 16 solve problems were found in this Daniel,hSee ch. 1:7 whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation. ”
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one ofiSee ch. 2:25 the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you thatb[See ver. 11 above] the spirit of the gods1Or Spirit of God is in you, and thatc[See ver. 11 above] light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Nowjver. 7 the wise men, thek[ch. 2:2; 4:6] enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, butlSee ver. 8 they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 m[ch. 2:26] But I have heard that you can give interpretations andnver. 12 solve problems.over. 7, 29 Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation,over. 7, 29 you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck andpver. 7, 29 shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. ”
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king,q[2 Kgs. 5:16] “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, therch. 3:26; 4:2 Most High Gods[ch. 2:37; 4:22] gavetver. 2 Nebuchadnezzar your fatheru[ch. 4:36] kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him,vSee ch. 3:4 all peoples, nations, and languagesw[ch. 6:26] trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. 20 Butx[ch. 4:30, 31; Ezek. 31:10, 11] when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly,ySee ch. 2:21 he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 z[ch. 4:25, 32] He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven,z[ch. 4:25, 32] until he knew that ther[See ver. 18 above] Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. 22 And you his son,1Or successoraSee ver. 1 Belshazzar,b[2 Chr. 33:23] have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself againstc[ch. 4:37] the Lord of heaven. Anddver. 3; See ch. 1:2 the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them.ever. 4 And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know,fJob 12:10 but the God in whose hand is your breath, andgJer. 10:23 whose are all your ways,h[Acts 12:23; Rev. 16:9] you have not honored.
24 Then from his presenceiver. 5 the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel,jJob 31:6; Ps. 62:9 you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given tokver. 31; [ch. 9:1; Isa. 13:17; 21:2; Jer. 51:28] the Medes andlSee ch. 6:28 Persians. ”
29 Thena[See ver. 22 above] Belshazzar gave the command, and Danielm[ver. 7, 16] was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 nJer. 50:24; 51:31, 39, 57 That very nighta[See ver. 22 above] Belshazzar theoch. 9:1 Chaldean king was killed. 31 Andpch. 9:1 Dariusk[See ver. 28 above] the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.