1. One evening, King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his highest officials, and he drank wine with them.
2. He got drunk and ordered his servants to bring in the gold and silver cups his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. Belshazzar wanted the cups, so that he and all his wives and officials could drink from them.
3-4. When the gold cups were brought in, everyone at the banquet drank from them and praised their idols made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5. Suddenly a human hand was seen writing on the plaster wall of the palace. The hand was just behind the lampstand, and the king could see it writing.
6. He was so frightened that his face turned pale, his knees started shaking, and his legs became weak.
7. The king called in his advisers, who claimed they could talk with the spirits of the dead and understand the meanings found in the stars. He told them, “The man who can read this writing and tell me what it means will become the third most powerful man in my kingdom. He will wear robes of royal purple and a gold chain around his neck.”
8. All of King Belshazzar's highest officials came in, but not one of them could read the writing or tell what it meant,
9. and they were completely puzzled. Now the king was more afraid than ever before, and his face turned white as a ghost.
10. When the queen heard the king and his officials talking, she came in and said:Your Majesty, I hope you live for ever! Don't be afraid or look so pale.
11. In your kingdom there is a man who has been given special powers by the holy gods. When your father Nebuchadnezzar was king, this man was known to be as clever, intelligent, and wise as the gods themselves. Your father put him in charge of all who claimed they could talk with the spirits or understand the meanings in the stars or tell about the future.
12. He also changed the man's name from Daniel to Belteshazzar. Not only is he wise and intelligent, but he can explain dreams and riddles and solve difficult problems. Send for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.
13. When Daniel was brought in, the king said:So you are Daniel, one of the captives my father brought back from Judah!
14. I was told that the gods have given you special powers and that you are intelligent and very wise.