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The Handwriting on the Wall at Belshazzar’s Banquet
5 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and in front of the thousand he drank wine. 2 When he had tasted the wine, Belshazzar said to bring the gold and silver vessels that his father[a] Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines could drink from them. 3 Then they brought the gold vessels that they had taken from the temple, that is, the House of God in Jerusalem. So the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 At that moment 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 saw the back of the hand that was writing. 6 Then the king’s cheerful appearance changed, his face grew pale,[b] and his thoughts troubled him. His legs went limp, and his knees knocked together.
7 The king called out loudly to bring the spell casters, the astrologers, and the diviners. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever is able to read this writing and explain its meaning will be clothed in purple, with a gold chain around his neck, and he will rule as third highest in the kingdom.”
8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they were not able to read the writing or tell the king what it meant. 9 Then King Belshazzar was really terrified. He grew even paler, and his nobles were perplexed.
10 The queen[c] came to the drinking party[d] because of the words of the king and his nobles. The queen said, “Your Majesty, may you live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, and do not look so frightened. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, enlightenment, insight, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him. So King Nebuchadnezzar your father, your father the king, appointed him chief of the magicians, spell casters, astrologers, and diviners, 12 because an outstanding spirit and knowledge and insight in interpreting dreams and explaining riddles and solving knotty problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be summoned, and he will explain the meaning of the writing.”
Daniel Interprets the Writing
13 Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king said to Daniel, “Are you Daniel, one of the Judean exiles whom my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard about you that a spirit of the gods is in you, and enlightenment and insight and outstanding wisdom are found in you. 15 Now, those wise men who are the spell casters were brought before me to read this writing and to make its meaning known to me, but they were not able to explain the meaning of the message. 16 Yet I have heard about you that you are able to explain meanings clearly and to solve knotty problems. Therefore, if you are able to read the writing and make its meaning known to me, you will be clothed in purple, with a gold chain around your neck, and you will rule as the third in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered the king:
Keep your gifts for yourself, or give your rewards to someone else! Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king, and I will make its meaning known to him. 18 As for you, Your Majesty—the Most High God gave the kingdom, greatness, splendor, and glory to Nebuchadnezzar, your father. 19 So because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and were afraid in his presence. He killed whomever he wanted, and he let live whomever he wanted. Also, he promoted anyone he wanted, and he demoted anyone he wanted. 20 But when he thought too much of himself, and his spirit became hardened in pride so that he acted arrogantly, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom, and his splendor was taken away from him. 21 He was driven away from humans, and his mind was changed to that of an animal. So his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass as bulls are fed, and his body was wet with dew from the sky, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdoms of men, and he raises up over them anyone he desires.
22 But you, his son, Belshazzar, did not humble your heart although you knew all this. 23 Instead, you lifted yourself against the Lord of Heaven. The vessels from his house were brought before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. Then you praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, who do not see and do not hear and do not know. But you did not honor the God who holds your breath in his hand and who controls all your ways. 24 So the back of the hand was sent by him, and this writing was inscribed.
25 Now this is the writing that was inscribed:
mene mene tekel and parsin
26 This is the meaning of the message:
Mene[e] means that God has counted up your kingdom and paid it out or spent it.
27 Tekel[f] means that you have been weighed in the scales, and you are too light.
28 Parsin[g] means that your kingdom has been broken in two and given to the Medes and the Persians.
29 Then Belshazzar spoke, and they dressed Daniel in purple, with a gold chain around his neck, and they made him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
Darius Receives the Kingdom
30 That very night, King Belshazzar the Chaldean was killed.
31 Then Darius the Mede received the kingdom, when he was about sixty-two years old.[h]
A Warning About False Teachers
2 There were false prophets also among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved ways, and because of them the way of the truth will be blasphemed. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with fabricated messages. Their condemnation announced long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
God Will Punish These False Teachers
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned but handed them over to chains[a] of darkness by casting them into hell, to be kept under guard for judgment; 5 and if God did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, along with seven others when he brought a flood on the world of ungodly people; 6 and if God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction,[b] by turning them into ashes when he made them an example of things to come for the ungodly;[c] 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the unrestrained immorality of the wicked people 8 (while that righteous man was living among them, he was tormented in his righteous soul day after day by the lawless deeds he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under guard until the day of judgment, in order to punish them.
10 This is especially true of those who follow the defiling lust of the flesh and who despise authority. Daring and arrogant, they do not tremble when they blaspheme glorious beings, 11 whereas angels, even though they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these people blaspheme in matters about which they are ignorant, just like unreasoning creatures that live by instinct and are born to be captured and destroyed. So they too will be destroyed as a consequence of their destructive activity. 13 They will be paid back[d] for the harm they cause.
They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, who take delight in their deceitful pleasures[e] while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of longing for adulterous women and sins that never stop. They seduce unstable souls. They have trained their hearts for greed. They are children who are cursed.
15 They left the right way and went astray, following the path of Balaam, son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. 16 (He was rebuked for his disobedience. A donkey, which does not talk, spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.) 17 These men are wells without water, clouds driven away by a windstorm, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved.[f] 18 For by uttering arrogant, empty words, they use the depraved lusts of the flesh to seduce those who are barely[g] escaping from those who live in error. 19 While they promise these people freedom, they themselves are slaves to corruption, for a person is a slave to what has control of him.
The Tragedy of Being Led Back Into a Sinful Life
20 Indeed, if, after escaping the defiling things of the world through the knowledge of our[h] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and controlled by them again, they are worse off than they were at first. 21 In fact, it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command passed on to them. 22 They demonstrate the truth of the proverb: “A dog returns to its own vomit,”[i] and a washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.
Samekh: Get Away From Me, You Evildoers
113 I hate the doubleminded, but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I wait confidently for your word.
115 Get away from me, you evildoers,
so that I may guard the commandments of my God!
116 Sustain me according to your sayings, and I will live.
Do not let me be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold me up, and I will be saved.
Then I will always have regard for your statutes.
118 You reject all who stray from your statutes,
because their deceitfulness is built on a lie.[a]
119 You discard all the wicked of the earth like slag.
Therefore, I love your testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles because I am afraid of you,
because I fear your judgments.
Ayin: It Is Time to Act
121 I have carried out what is just and right.
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee good for your servant.
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes wear out,
as I watch for your salvation and your righteousness.
124 Deal with your servant according to your mercy,
and teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant. Give me discernment,
so that I may know your testimonies.
126 Lord, it is time to do something!
They have broken your laws.
127 Because I love your commandments more than gold,
more than pure gold,
128 because I value everything in all your precepts,
I hate every wrong road.
19 A person who works his land will have plenty of food,
but whoever pursues fantasies will have plenty of poverty.
20 A trustworthy person has many blessings,
but a person in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.