1. King Belshazzar threw a huge party for a thousand of his princes, and he drank a lot of wine in front of them.
2. While he was under the wine’s influence, Belshazzar commanded that the gold and silver equipment that his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem’s temple be brought to the party so that the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives could drink wine out of them.
3. So the gold equipment that had been carried out of the temple, God’s house in Jerusalem, was brought in; and the king, his princes, his consorts, and his secondary wives drank out of it.
4. They drank a lot of wine; and they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5. Right then the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the king’s palace wall in the light of the lamp. The king saw the hand that wrote.
6. The king’s mood changed immediately, and he was deeply disturbed. He felt weak, and his knees were shaking.
7. The king yelled, calling for the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners.The king told these sages of Babylon: "Anyone who can read this writing and tell me its meaning will wear royal robes, will have a gold chain around his neck, and will rule the kingdom as third in command."
8. Then all the king’s sages arrived, but they couldn’t read the writing or interpret it for the king.
9. At that point King Belshazzar was really frightened. All the color drained from his face, and his princes were also very worried.
10. Upon hearing the commotion coming from the king and his princes, the queen entered the banqueting hall and declared, "Long live the king! Don’t be so disturbed. Don’t be so frightened.