Daniel 5:5-12

English Standard Version

^5 (A)Immediately ^(B)the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw ^(C)the hand as it wrote. ^6 (D)Then the king's color changed, ^(E)and his thoughts alarmed him; ^(F)his limbs gave way, and ^(G)his knees knocked together. ^7 (H)The king called loudly to bring in ^(I)the enchanters, the ^(J)Chaldeans, and ^(K)the astrologers. The king declared^[a] to the wise men of Babylon, ^(L)“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and ^(M)shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” ⁸ Then all the king's wise men came in, but ^(N)they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. ⁹ Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^(O)alarmed, and his ^(P)color changed, and his ^(Q)lords were perplexed.

¹⁰ The queen,^[b] because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, ^(R)“O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you ^(S)or your color change. ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom ^(T)in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.^[c] In the days of your father, ^(U)light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—^(V)made him chief of the magicians, ^(W)enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, ^12 (X)because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and ^(Y)understanding ^(Z)to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and ^(AA)solve problems were found in this Daniel, ^(AB)whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”