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.