Exile · 539 BC
Chapter 12
The Writing on the Wall
In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
For parents
King Belshazzar is killed on the night of his feast (Daniel 5:30); it is told in one plain sentence. The lines from Jeremiah at the start speak of Babylon being taken and destroyed, and of the Lord’s vengeance on her (Jeremiah 50:2-3; 51:6-8).
The Lord had spoken about through the prophet . His message about the land of the began like this:
Tell it among the nations, and announce it.Raise a banner. Announce it, and don’t hide it.Say, “Babylon has been taken. is disappointed. is shaken.Her images are disappointed. Her idols are shaken.”A nation is coming up out of the north against her.It will make her land a ruin, and no one will live in it.They have fled. They are gone,both people and animals.
Further on, the message says:
Run from the middle of Babylon!Everyone, save your own life!Don’t be destroyed in her sin,because it is the time of the Lord’s vengeance.He will give her what she has earned.Babylon has been a golden cup in the Lord’s handthat made all the earth drunk.The nations have drunk her wine,so the nations have gone mad.Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed!Wail for her!Take for her pain.Perhaps she may be healed.
Years before, the prophet Jeremiah had given a command to son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah. It was in the fourth year of ’s reign over Judah, when Seraiah went with King Zedekiah to Babylon. Seraiah was the chief .
Jeremiah had written down in a book all the harm Babylon would suffer. The book held all these words about Babylon.
“When you get to Babylon,” Jeremiah told Seraiah, “make sure you read all these words. Then say, ‘Lord, you have spoken about this place. You said you would destroy it, so that no one would live there, neither people nor animals. It would be a ruin forever.’
“When you have read to the end of this book, tie a stone to it, then throw it out into the middle of the . Then say, ‘This is how Babylon will sink. She will not rise again, because of the harm I am going to bring on her. And they will be weary.’”
Here the words of Jeremiah end.
Now was king, and he gave a great feast for his lords, a thousand of them. He drank wine in front of them all.
While he was tasting the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring him the gold and silver vessels that his father had taken away from the temple in . That way he and his lords, his wives and his could drink from them.
Then they brought in the gold vessels from the temple, God’s house in Jerusalem. The king drank from them, and so did his lords, his wives and his concubines. They drank wine and praised the gods made of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
In that same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote on the plaster of the palace wall, near the lamp stand. The king saw the part of the hand that was writing.
The king’s face changed, and his thoughts troubled him. The joints of his hips went loose, and his knees knocked against each other.
The king shouted for the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the fortune-tellers to be brought in. He said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and explains it to me will be dressed in purple, with a gold chain around his neck, and he will be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
All the king’s wise men came in, but they couldn’t read the writing or explain to the king what it meant. Then King Belshazzar was deeply troubled, and his face changed. His lords were puzzled.
Hearing what the king and his lords were saying, the queen came into the banquet house. She said, “O king, live forever! Don’t let your thoughts trouble you, and don’t let your face change like this.
“There is a man in your kingdom, and the spirit of the holy gods is in him. In your father’s time he was found to have insight and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father—yes, the king your father—made him master of the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans and the fortune-tellers. He did it because this man was found to have an excellent spirit, knowledge and understanding, and he could interpret dreams, explain riddles and clear up doubts. He is , the man the king named Belteshazzar. Now have Daniel called, and he will tell you what it means.”
Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke to Daniel: “Are you that Daniel, one of the captives the king my father brought out of Judah? I have heard about you: the spirit of the gods is in you, and insight, understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.
“The wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me. They were supposed to read this writing and tell me its meaning, but they couldn’t explain it. But I have heard that you can tell what things mean and clear up doubts. If you can read the writing and explain what it means, you will be dressed in purple, with a gold chain around your neck, and you will be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
Daniel answered the king, “Let your gifts stay with you, and give your rewards to someone else. Still, I will read the writing to the king and tell him what it means.
“The , O king, gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness and glory and majesty. Because of the greatness God gave him, people of every nation and language trembled with fear before him. He killed anyone he wanted to kill, and he kept alive anyone he wanted to keep alive. He raised up anyone he wanted, and he brought down anyone he wanted.
“But his heart grew proud and his spirit grew hard, so that he acted with pride. Then he was removed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. He was driven away from other people, and his heart was made like an animal’s. His home was with the wild donkeys, and he was fed grass like the oxen. His body was wet with dew from the sky until he came to know that the Most High God rules the kingdoms of people and puts whoever he wants over them.
“But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this. You have proudly set yourself against the Lord of heaven. They brought the vessels of his house to you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines have drunk wine from them. You have praised gods of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone, gods that don’t see or hear or know anything. And you have not given glory to the God who holds your breath in his hand. All your ways belong to him.”
“Then God sent the hand,” Daniel said, “and these words were written. This is what they say: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
“And this is what it means. MENE: God has counted your kingdom and brought it to an end. TEKEL: You are weighed on the scales and are found wanting. PERES: Your kingdom is divided and given to the and .”
Then Belshazzar gave the command. They dressed Daniel in purple, put a gold chain around his neck, and announced that he would be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed that night.
received the kingdom. He was about sixty-two years old.