Belshazzar’s Feast

5 King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.^(A)

² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar commanded that they bring in the vessels of gold and silver that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.^(A)

⁷ The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners, and the king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever can read this writing and tell me its interpretation shall be clothed in purple, have a chain of gold around his neck, and rank third in the kingdom.”^(A)

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king the interpretation.^(A)

³⁰ That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed.^(A)