Daniel 5:1-12 - The Mysterious Writing On The Wall

¹ King Belshazzar put on a great festival for a thousand of his officials. He joined all one thousand of them in getting drunk. ² Under the influence of wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought in so the king, his officials, his wives, and his mistresses could drink from them. ³ As ordered, they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the sanctuary of God's Temple in Jerusalem, and the king, his officials, his wives, and mistresses drank from them. ⁴ As they drank the wine, they praised gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

⁵ At that moment, humanlike fingers of a hand appeared near the lamp stand of the royal palace and wrote on the plaster of the wall. ⁶ While the king watched the back of the hand as it was writing, his facial expression changed. Utterly frightened, he lost control of his own bowels and his knees knocked together. ⁷ The king cried out to bring in enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He announced to the advisors of Babylon, "Whoever can read this writing and tell me its meaning will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain placed around his neck, and will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom." ⁸ Then all the king's advisors came in, but they were unable to read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹ So King Belshazzar became even more frightened, and his facial expression showed it. His officials also were thrown into confusion.

¹⁰ Hearing the voices of the king and his officials, the queen entered the banquet hall. "Your majesty, live forever," the queen said. "Don't be frightened by your thoughts or allow your facial expression to show it. ¹¹ There's a man in your kingdom in whom dwells the spirit of the holy gods. During your grandfather's reign, he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom, like that of the gods. Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar your kingly predecessor appointed him to be chief administrator over the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, ¹² because he was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and understanding, along with an ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems. His name is Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar. Call for Daniel, and he will reveal the meaning of the writing."