¹ Belshazzar the king hath made a great feast to a thousand of his great men, and before the thousand he is drinking wine;

² Belshazzar hath said -- while tasting the wine -- to bring in the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, that drink with them may the king, and his great men, his wives, and his concubines.

³ Then they have brought in the vessels of gold that had been taken out of the temple of the house of God that [is] in Jerusalem, and drunk with them have the king and his great men, his wives and his concubines;

⁴ they have drunk wine, and have praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

⁵ In that hour come forth have fingers of a man's hand, and they are writing over-against the candlestick, on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king is seeing the extremity of the hand that is writing;

⁶ then the king's countenance hath changed, and his thoughts do trouble him, and the joints of his loins are loosed, and his knees are smiting one against another.

⁷ Call doth the king mightily, to bring up the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. Answered hath the king, and said to the wise men of Babylon, that, `Any man who doth read this writing, and its interpretation doth shew me, purple he putteth on, and a bracelet of gold [is] on his neck, and third in the kingdom he doth rule.'

⁸ Then coming up are all the wise men of the king, and they are not able to read the writing, and the interpretation to make known to the king;

⁹ then the king Belshazzar is greatly troubled, and his countenance is changing in him, and his great men are perplexed.

¹⁰ The queen, on account of the words of the king and his great men, to the banquet-house hath come up. Answered hath the queen, and said, `O king, to the ages live; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor thy countenance be changed:

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 -- as the wisdom of the gods -- was found in him; and king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, chief of the scribes, enchanters, Chaldeans, soothsayers, established him -- thy father, O king --

¹² because that an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of enigmas, and loosing of knots was found in him, in Daniel, whose name the king made Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and the interpretation he doth show.'

¹³ Then Daniel hath been caused to come up before the king; answered hath the king, and said to Daniel, `Thou art that Daniel who [art] of the sons of the Removed of Judah, whom the king my father brought in out of Judah?

¹⁴ And I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods [is] in thee, and light, and understanding, and excellent wisdom have been found in thee.

¹⁵ `And now, caused to come up before me have been the wise men, the enchanters, that this writing they may read, and its interpretation to cause me to know: and they are not able to shew the interpretation of the thing:

¹⁶ and I -- I have heard of thee, that thou art able to give interpretations, and to loose knots: now, lo -- thou art able to read the writing, and its interpretation to cause me to know -- purple thou dost put on, and a bracelet of gold [is] on thy neck, and third in the kingdom thou dost rule.'

¹⁷ Then hath Daniel answered and said before the king, `Thy gifts be to thyself, and thy fee to another give; nevertheless, the writing I do read to the king, and the interpretation I cause him to know;

¹⁸ thou, O king, God Most High, a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honour, gave to Nebuchadnezzar thy father:

¹⁹ and because of the greatness that He gave to him, all peoples, nations, and languages were trembling and fearing before him: whom he willed he was slaying, and whom he willed he was keeping alive, and whom he willed he was raising up, and whom he willed he was making low;

²⁰ and when his heart was high, and his spirit was strong to act proudly, he hath been caused to come down from the throne of his kingdom, and his glory they have caused to pass away from him,

²¹ and from the sons of men he is driven, and his heart with the beasts hath been like, and with the wild asses [is] his dwelling; the herb like oxen they cause him to eat, and by the dew of the heavens is his body wet, till that he hath known that God Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and whom He willeth He raiseth up over it.

²² `And thou, his son, Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though all this thou hast known;

²³ and against the Lord of the heavens thou hast lifted up thyself; and the vessels of His house they have brought in before thee, and thou, and thy great men, thy wives, and thy concubines, are drinking wine with them, and gods of silver, and of gold, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone, that are not seeing, nor hearing, nor knowing, thou hast praised: and the God in whose hand [is] thy breath, and all thy ways, Him thou hast not honoured.

²⁴ `Then from before Him sent is the extremity of the hand, and the writing is noted down;

²⁵ and this [is] the writing that is noted down: Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, and Divided.

²⁶ This [is] the interpretation of the thing: Numbered -- God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it.

²⁷ Weighed -- Thou art weighed in the balances, and hast been found lacking.

²⁸ Divided -- Divided is thy kingdom, and it hath been given to the Medes and Persians.'

²⁹ Then hath Belshazzar said, and they have clothed Daniel with purple, and a bracelet of gold [is] on his neck, and they have proclaimed concerning him that he is the third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ In that night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans is slain,

³¹ and Darius the Mede hath received the kingdom, when a son of sixty and two years.

¹ Woe to you who destroy, but you weren't destroyed; and who betray, but nobody betrayed you! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed; and when you have made an end of betrayal, you will be betrayed.

² Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.

³ At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.

⁴ Your spoil will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men will leap on it as locusts leap.

⁵ Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.

⁶ There will be stability in your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of Yahweh is your treasure.

⁷ Behold, their valiant ones cry outside; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

⁸ The highways are desolate. The traveling man ceases. The covenant is broken. He has despised the cities. He doesn't respect man.

⁹ The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.

¹⁰ "Now I will arise," says Yahweh; "Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.

¹¹ You will conceive chaff. You will bring forth stubble. Your breath is a fire that will devour you.

¹² The peoples will be like the burning of lime, like thorns that are cut down and burned in the fire.

¹³ Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might."

¹⁴ The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?

¹⁵ He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; He who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil--

¹⁶ he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.

¹⁷ Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.

¹⁸ Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?

¹⁹ You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can't comprehend, with a strange language that you can't understand.

²⁰ Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won't be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.

²¹ But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of broad rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.

²² For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.

²³ Your rigging is untied. They couldn't strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn't spread the sail. Then the prey of a great spoil was divided. The lame took the prey.

²⁴ The inhabitant won't say, "I am sick." The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.