18. “My king, the Most High God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great, important and powerful king.
19. God made him very important. So all the people, nations and those who spoke every language were very afraid of Nebuchadnezzar. If he wanted a person to die, he put that person to death. And if he wanted a person to live, he let that person live. If he wanted to promote a person, he promoted him. And if he wanted a person to be unimportant, he made him unimportant.
20. “But Nebuchadnezzar became too proud and stubborn. So he was taken off his royal throne. His glory was taken away.
21. Then Nebuchadnezzar was forced away from people. His mind became like the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and was fed grass like an ox. He became wet with dew. These things happened to him until he learned his lesson: The Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men. And the Most High God sets anyone he wants over those kingdoms.
22. “But, Belshazzar, you already knew these things. You are a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. But still you have not been sorry for what you have done.
23. Instead, you have turned against the Lord of heaven. You ordered the drinking cups from the Temple of the Lord to be brought to you. Then you and your royal guests drank wine from them. Your wives and your slave women also drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone. They are not really gods. They cannot see or hear or understand anything. But you did not honor God. He is the One who has power over your life and everything you do.
24. So God sent the hand that wrote on the wall.
25. “These are the words that were written on the wall: ‘Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.’
26. “This is what these words mean: Mene: God has counted the days until your kingdom will end.
27. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough.
28. Parsin: Your kingdom is being divided. It will be given to the Medes and the Persians.”
29. Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain was put around his neck. And he was announced to be the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
30. That very same night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonian people, was killed.
31. A man named Darius the Mede became the new king. Darius was 62 years old.