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The Blue Letter Bible

Daniel 5 :: New International Version (NIV)

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The Writing on the Wall

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:1

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:1 - King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:2

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:2 - While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father[fn] had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:3

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:3 - So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:4

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:4 - As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:5

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:5 - Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:6

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:6 - His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:7

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:7 - The king summoned the enchanters, astrologers[fn] and diviners. Then he said to these wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck, and he will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:8

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:8 - Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:9

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:9 - So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:10

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:10 - The queen,[fn] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!” she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale!

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:11

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:11 - There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom like that of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:12

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:12 - He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar, was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve difficult problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:13

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:13 - So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:14

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:14 - I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:15

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:15 - The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:16

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:16 - Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems. If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:17

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:17 - Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:18

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:18 - “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:19

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:19 - Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:20

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:20 - But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:21

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:21 - He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:22

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:22 - “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[fn] have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:23

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:23 - Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:24

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:24 - Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:25

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:25 - “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:26

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:26 - “Here is what these words mean: Mene[fn]: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:27

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:27 - Tekel[fn]: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:28

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:28 - Peres[fn]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:29

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:29 - Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:30

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:30 - That very night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians,[fn] was slain,

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Unchecked Copy Box Dan 5:31

Unchecked Copy BoxDan 5:31 - and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom, at the age of sixty-two.[fn]
See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NIV Footnotes
Or ancestor; or predecessor; also in verses 11, 13 and 18
Or Chaldeans; also in verse 11
Or queen mother
Or descendant; or successor
Mene can mean numbered or mina (a unit of money).
Tekel can mean weighed or shekel.
Peres (the singular of Parsin) can mean divided or Persia or a half mina or a half shekel.
Or Chaldeans
In Aramaic texts this verse (5:31) is numbered 6:1.
NIV

HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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Daniel Chapter 5 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras