21. He was driven away from people, his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over the kingdom of men and sets anyone He wants over it.
22. “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
23. Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life.
24. Therefore, He sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
25. “This is the writing that was inscribed:MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.
26. This is the interpretation of the message:MENE means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
27. TEKEL means that you have been weighed in the balance and found deficient.
28. PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29. Then Belshazzar gave an order, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30. That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed,
31. and Darius the Mede received the kingdom at the age of 62.