Daniel 5
The Handwriting on the
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1 |
Belshaz'zar the king made a great feast
to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the
thousand.
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2 |
Belshaz'zar, while he tasted the wine,
commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father
Nebuchadnez'zar had taken out of the temple which was in
Jerusalem; that the king and his princes, his wives and his
concubines, might drink therein.
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3 |
Then they brought the golden vessels that
were taken 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.
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4 |
They drank wine, and praised the gods of
gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of
stone.
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5 |
In the same hour came forth fingers of
a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the
plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part
of the hand that wrote.
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6 |
Then the king's countenance was changed,
and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were
loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
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7 |
The king cried aloud to bring in the
astrologers, the Chalde'ans, and the soothsayers. And the
king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever
shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof,
shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about
his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
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8 |
Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to
the king the interpretation thereof.
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9 |
Then was king Belshaz'zar greatly
troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were
astonished.
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10 |
Now the queen, by reason of the
words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not
thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be
changed:
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11 |
there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father
light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was
found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnez'zar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers,
Chalde'ans, and soothsayers;
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12 |
forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and
knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of
hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same
Daniel, whom the king named Belteshaz'zar: now let Daniel be called,
and he will show the interpretation.
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13 |
Then was Daniel brought in before the
king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity
of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
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14 |
I have even heard of thee, that the
spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and
understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
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15 |
And now the wise men, the
astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read
this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but
they could not show the interpretation of the thing:
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16 |
and I have heard of thee, that thou canst
make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read
the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou
shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about
thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
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17 |
Then Daniel answered and said before
the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to
another; yet I will read the writing unto the king and make known to
him the interpretation.
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18 |
O thou king, the most high God gave
Nebuchadnez'zar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and
honor:
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19 |
and for the majesty that he gave him, all
people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom
he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would
he set up; and whom he would he put down.
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20 |
But when his heart was lifted up, and his
mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and
they took his glory from him:
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21 |
and he was driven from the sons of men;
and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body
was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God
ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it
whomsoever he will.
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22 |
And thou his son, O Belshaz'zar, hast not
humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
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23 |
but hast lifted up thyself against the
Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house
before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines,
have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver,
and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear,
nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.
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24 |
Then was the part of the hand sent from
him; and this writing was written.
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25 |
And this is the writing that was
written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL,
UPHAR'SIN.
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26 |
This is the interpretation of the
thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and
finished it.
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27 |
TEKEL; Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
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28 |
PERES; Thy kingdom
is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
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29 |
Then commanded Belshaz'zar, and they
clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about
his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be
the third ruler in the kingdom.
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30 |
In that night was Belshaz'zar the king
of the Chalde'ans slain.
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31 |
And Dari'us the Me'di-an took the
kingdom, being about threescore and two years
old.
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