Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silvervesselswhich his fatherNebuchadnezzar had taken out of the templewhich was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, mightdrinktherein.
Thentheybrought the goldenvesselsthatweretaken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
In the samehourcameforthfingers of a man’shand, and wroteoveragainst the candlestickupon the plaister of the wall of the king’spalace: and the king saw the part of the handthatwrote.
Then the king’scountenance was changed, and his thoughtstroubled him, so that the joints of his loinswereloosed, and his kneessmote one againstanother.
The kingcriedaloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the kingspake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoevershallreadthiswriting, and shew me the interpretationthereof, shall be clothedwithscarlet, and have a chain of goldabout his neck, and shall be the thirdruler in the kingdom.
Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lordscameinto the banquethouse: and the queenspake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughtstroublethee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holygods; and in the days of thy fatherlight and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the kingNebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, mademaster of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
Forasmuch as an excellentspirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hardsentences, and dissolving of doubts, werefound in the sameDaniel, whom the kingnamedBelteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he willshew the interpretation.
Then was Danielbrought in before the king. And the kingspake and saiduntoDaniel, Art thouthatDaniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my fatherbrought out of Jewry?
And now the wise men, the astrologers, havebeenbrought in before me, thattheyshouldreadthiswriting, and makeknownunto me the interpretationthereof: but theycould not shew the interpretation of the thing:
And I haveheard of thee, thatthoucanstmakeinterpretations, and dissolvedoubts: now if thoucanstread the writing, and makeknown to me the interpretationthereof, thoushalt be clothedwithscarlet, and have a chain of goldabout thy neck, and shalt be the thirdruler in the kingdom.
ThenDanielanswered and saidbefore the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I willread the writingunto the king, and makeknown to him the interpretation.
And for the majestythat he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and fearedbefore him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he keptalive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
And he was drivenfrom the sons of men; and his heart was madelike the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wildasses: they fed him withgrasslikeoxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knewthat the mosthigh God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointethover it whomsoever he will.
But hastlifted up thyselfagainst the Lord of heaven; and theyhavebrought the vessels of his housebeforethee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, havedrunkwine in them; and thouhastpraised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whosehand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hastthou not glorified:
ThencommandedBelshazzar, and theyclothedDanielwithscarlet, and put a chain of goldabout his neck, and made a proclamationconcerning him, that he should be the thirdruler in the kingdom.