Daniel 5:5-10

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.