Daniel 5:1-12 - The Mysterious Writing On The Wall
1 Belshazzar the king made a great banquet to a thousand of his lords, and against the thousand he drank wine. 2 Belshazzar, under the influence of the wine, commanded that they bring the vessels of gold and of silver which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the temple of Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink with them. 3 Then they brought the vessels of gold that they had brought from the temple of the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank with them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In that same hour some fingers of a man's hand came forth and wrote in front of the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the palm of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king became pale, and his thoughts troubled him, and the girdings of his loins were unloosed, and his knees smote one against another. 7 The king cried in a loud voice that they bring in the magicians, the Chaldeans, and the fortune-tellers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing and show me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold about his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. 8 Then all the king's wise men came in, but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king its interpretation. 9 Then king Belshazzar was greatly troubled, and his colour was changed, and his princes were upset.
10 Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and of his princes, came into the banquet room. The queen spoke and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be pale. 11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom lives the spirit of the holy God; and in the days of thy father light and intelligence and wisdom, like the knowledge of God, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar, thy father, made prince over all the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and fortune-tellers; thus did thy father, the king, 12 because Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have a more excellent spirit and greater knowledge and understanding interpreting dreams, unraveling questions, and dissolving doubts. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show thee the interpretation.