The Handwriting on the Wall

In the middle of a drunken feast, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote four words on the palace wall. By morning the king was dead and his kingdom gone.

During a great feast for a thousand of his lords, Belshazzar king of Babylon drank wine from the gold and silver vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem while his guests praised gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone. In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the palace wall. None of the king's wise men could read it, so Daniel was brought in. He reminded Belshazzar of how God had humbled Nebuchadnezzar, then read the words MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN: the kingdom had been numbered and finished, the king weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom given to the Medes and Persians. That same night Belshazzar was slain.

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Category: Judgment
Testament: Old Testament
Performed by: God

Key Chapters

Daniel 5 The Writing on the Wall 6 min read Belshazzar's proud feast with the temple vessels is interrupted by a hand writin...

Key Passages

The Fingers of a Man's Hand

Daniel 5:1-9

Belshazzar's proud feast with the temple vessels is interrupted by a hand writing on the wall, and the king's knees knock together in fear.

B¹elshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

² Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. ³ Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. ⁴ They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. ⁵ In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. ⁶ Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. ⁷ The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. ⁸ Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. ⁹ Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.

Weighed in the Balances

Daniel 5:22-31

Daniel reads God's verdict on a king who would not humble his heart, and the judgment falls that same night.

A²²nd thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

²³ 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: ²⁴ Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. ²⁵ And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. ²⁶ This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. ²⁷ TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. ²⁸ PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. ²⁹ Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰ In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. ³¹ And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.