The Daily Audio Bible

Belshazzar’s Special Supper

5 King Belshazzar gave a special supper for a thousand of his important men, and drank wine with them. ² When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he had all the gold and silver cups brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the Lord’s house in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he and his important men and all his wives could drink from them. ³ So they brought the gold cups that had been taken from the house of God in Jerusalem. And the king and his important men and all his wives drank from them. ⁴ They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone.

⁵ All at once the fingers of a man’s hand were seen writing on the wall near the lamp-stand of the king’s house. And the king saw the back of the hand as it wrote. ⁶ Then the king’s face turned white, and his thoughts turned to fear. His legs became weak and his knees began shaking. ⁷ The king called in a loud voice for the wonder-workers, the men who learned from stars and those who used their secret ways. He said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed with purple clothing and have a chain of gold around his neck. And he will be the third in power in the nation.” ⁸ Then all the king’s wise men came in. But they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹ Then King Belshazzar was very afraid. His face lost even more of its color, and his important men did not know what to do.

¹⁰ The queen heard the words of the king and his men, and came into the room where they were eating. She said, “O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts make you afraid or your face turn white. ¹¹ There is a man in your nation who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In your father’s time light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him. And King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him the head of the wonder-workers, the men who learned from stars, and those who use their secret ways. ¹² This was because a special spirit was found in this Daniel whom the king called Belteshazzar. He had much learning and understanding to tell the meaning of dreams and secrets and to give answers to problems. Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what this means.”

Daniel Tells What the Writing Means

¹³ So Daniel was brought to the king. And the king said to him, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the people whom my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you. Light and understanding and special wisdom have been found in you also. ¹⁵ The wise men and wonder-workers were brought in to me so that they might read this writing and tell me what it means. But they could not tell me its meaning. ¹⁶ Now I have heard that you are able to tell the meaning of such things and give answers to hard problems. If you are able to read the writing and tell me what it means, you will be dressed in purple and wear a chain of gold around your neck. And you will be the third in power in the nation.”

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered the king, saying, “Keep your gifts for yourself, or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing to the king and tell him what it means. ¹⁸ O king, the Most High made your father Nebuchadnezzar king, and gave him greatness, honor, and power. ¹⁹ Because of the greatness He gave to him, all the people of every nation and language shook in fear in front of him. He killed whomever he wanted. And he let live whomever he wanted. He gave honor to whomever he wanted. And he put down whomever he wanted. ²⁰ But when his heart and spirit became proud and he acted in pride, he was taken from his throne and his greatness was taken from him. ²¹ He was driven away from people, and his mind became like that of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys. He ate grass like cattle, and his body became wet with the water from heaven. It was like this for him until he understood that the Most High God is ruler over the nation of all men, and that He lets whomever He wants rule it. ²² Yet you, his son Belshazzar, have not put away the pride from your heart, even though you knew all this. ²³ You have honored yourself more than the Lord of heaven. The cups of His house have been brought to you. And you and your important men and all your wives have been drinking wine from them. You have praised the gods of silver, gold, brass, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But you have not honored the God Who holds your life and your ways in His hand. ²⁴ So the hand was sent from Him to write on your wall. ²⁵ “This is what was written: ‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN.’ ²⁶ And this is what it means: ‘MENE’ means that God has numbered the days of your rule and has brought it to an end. ²⁷ ‘TEKEL’ means that you have been weighed and found to be too light. ²⁸ ‘PERES’ means that your nation has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

²⁹ Then Belshazzar had them dress Daniel in purple and put a chain of gold around his neck. And he made it known that Daniel was the third most powerful ruler in the nation.

Belshazzar Is Killed

³⁰ That very night Belshazzar the king of Babylon was killed. ³¹ So Darius the Mede became the king when he was sixty-two years old.

Watch for False Teachers

2 But there were false teachers among the people. And there will be false teachers among you also. These people will work in secret ways to bring false teaching to you. They will turn against Christ Who bought them with His blood. They bring fast death on themselves. ² Many people will follow their wrong ways. Because of what they do, people will speak bad things against the way of truth. ³ They will tell lies and false stories so they can use you to get things for themselves. But God judged them long ago and their death is on the way.

⁴ God did not hold back from punishing the angels who sinned, but sent them down to hell. They are to be kept there in the deep hole of darkness until they stand before Him Who judges them. ⁵ God did not hold back from punishing the people of the world who sinned long ago. He brought the flood on the world of sinners. But Noah was a preacher of right living. He and his family of seven were the only ones God saved. ⁶ God said that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty, and He destroyed them with fire. This was to show people who did not worship God what would happen to them. ⁷ Lot was taken away from Sodom because he was right with God. He had been troubled by the sins that bad men did in wild living. ⁸ He saw and heard how the people around him broke the Law. Everyday his own soul which was right with God was troubled because of their sinful ways. ⁹ But the Lord knows how to help men who are right with God when they are tempted. He also knows how to keep the sinners suffering for their wrong-doing until the day they stand before God Who will judge them. ¹⁰ This is true about those who keep on wanting to please their own bodies in sinful desires and those who will not obey laws. They want to please themselves and are not afraid when they laugh and say bad things about the powers in heaven. ¹¹ Angels are greater in strength and power than they. But angels do not speak against these powers before the Lord.

¹² Men like this are like animals who are not able to think but are born to be caught and killed. They speak bad words against that which they do not understand. They will die in their own sinful ways. ¹³ This is the pay they will suffer for their sinful lives. They are not ashamed when they sin in the daylight. They are sores and dirty spots among you while they eat and drink big meals with you. ¹⁴ Their eyes are full of sex sins. They never have enough sin. They get weak people to go along with them. Their hearts are always wanting something. They are people who will end up in hell because ¹⁵ they have left the right way and have gone the wrong way. They have followed the way of Balaam, who was the son of Beor. He loved the money he got for his sin. ¹⁶ But he was stopped in his sin. A donkey spoke to him with a man’s voice. It stopped this early preacher from going on in his crazy way.

¹⁷ Such people are like wells without water. They are like clouds before a storm. The darkest place below has been kept for them. ¹⁸ They speak big-sounding words which show they are proud. They get men who are trying to keep away from sinful men to give in to the sinful desires of the flesh. ¹⁹ They promise that these men will be free. But they themselves are chained to sin. For a man is chained to anything that has power over him.

²⁰ There are men who have been made free from the sins of the world by learning to know the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who saves. But if they do these sins again, and are not able to keep from doing them, they are worse than they were before. ²¹ After knowing the holy Law that was given to them, they turned from it. It would have been better for them if they had not known how to be right with God. ²² They are like the wise saying, “A dog turns back to what he has thrown up.” ^(A) And, “A pig that has been washed goes back to roll in the mud.”

¹¹³ I hate those who have two ways of thinking, but I love Your Law. ¹¹⁴ You are my hiding place and my battle-covering. I put my hope in Your Word. ¹¹⁵ Go away from me, you who do wrong, so I may keep the Word of my God. ¹¹⁶ Hold me up by Your Word and I will live. Do not let me be ashamed of my hope. ¹¹⁷ Hold me up so I will be safe, and I will always have respect for Your Law. ¹¹⁸ You turn away from all those who turn from Your Law. They fool themselves with their own lying. ¹¹⁹ You put away like waste all the sinful of the earth, so I love Your Law. ¹²⁰ My flesh shakes in fear of You, and I am afraid of how You may punish.

¹²¹ I have done what is fair and right. Do not leave me to those who would make it hard for me. ¹²² Promise that You will bring good to Your servant. Do not let the proud make it hard for me. ¹²³ My eyes become weak with desire for Your saving power and for Your Word that is right and good. ¹²⁴ Act in Your loving-kindness toward Your servant, and teach me Your Laws. ¹²⁵ I am Your servant. Give me understanding so I may know Your Law. ¹²⁶ It is time for You to work, Lord, for they have broken Your Law. ¹²⁷ I love Your Word more than gold, more than pure gold. ¹²⁸ And so I look upon all of Your Law as right. I hate every false way.

¹⁹ He who works his land will have more than enough food, but he who wastes his time will become very poor.

²⁰ A faithful man will have many good things, but he who hurries to be rich will be punished for it.