rd of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and dissolve
doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the
interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a
chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt rule as one of three in the
kingdom. Then Daniel answered and said before the king: Let thy gifts be
to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read
the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O
thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom,
and greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the greatness that
he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared
before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and
whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his
heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened that he dealt proudly,
he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the
beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass
like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven: until he knew
that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he setteth
up over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not
humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this: but hast lifted up
thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of
his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy
concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of
silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor
hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are
all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: then was the part of the hand
sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the
writing that was inscribed[2]:

M U P
E L H
N E A
E K R
M E S
E T I
N E N

[Footnote 2: Daniel reads down, up, down: instead of across.]

This is the interpretation of the thing:

MENE

God hath NUMBERED thy kingdom:
And brought it to an end!

TEKEL

Thou art WEIGHED in the balances:
And art found wanting!

PERES

Thy kingdom is DIVIDED:
And given to the Medes and Persians!

Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put
a chain of gold about