5:1 Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic) the king made a great feast to a thousand of his rabreban (nobles), and drank wine before the thousand.
5:2 Belt'shatzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nevukadnetzar had taken out of the temple which [was] in Yerushalayim; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
5:3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the Beit Elah (אלהּ) which [was] at Yerushalayim; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
5:4 They drank wine, and praised the elahim (אלהין) of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5:5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's yad (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 yad (hand) that wrote.
5:6 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.
5:7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Kasdim (Chaldeans), and the soothsayers. [And] the king spake, and said to the wise [men] of Bavel (בּבל), Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the pesher (interpretation, explanation) thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
5:8 Then came in all the king's wise [men]: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the pesher (interpretation, explanation) thereof.
5:9 Then was king Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic) greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his rabreban (nobles) were astonied.
5:10 [Now] the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his rabreban (nobles), came into the banquet house: [and] the queen spake and said, O king, live forever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
5:11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom [is] the spirit of the set apart elahim (אלהין); and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the elahim (אלהין), was found in him; whom the king Nevukadnetzar thy father, the king, [I say], thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Kasdim (Chaldeans), [and] soothsayers;
5:12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of chalomot (dreams), and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniyel (דניאל), whom the king named Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic): now let Daniyel (דניאל) be called, and he will shew the pesher (interpretation, explanation).
5:13 Then was Daniyel (דניאל) brought in before the king. [And] the king spake and said unto Daniyel (דניאל), [Art] thou that Daniyel (דניאל), which [art] of the children of the captivity of Yehudah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
5:14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the elahim (אלהין) [is] in thee, and [that] light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
5:15 And now the wise [men], the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the pesher (interpretation, explanation) thereof: but they could not shew the pesher (interpretation, explanation) of the thing:
5:16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make pesher (interpretation, explanation)s, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the pesher thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Daniyel Rebuke(17-24)
5:17 Then Daniyel (דניאל) answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the pesher (interpretation, explanation).
5:18 O thou king, the EL-Elyon (Most High) gave Nevukadnetzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
5:19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, 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 set up; and whom he would he put down.
5:20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
5:21 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: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of shamayim; till he knew that the EL-Elyon (Most High) ruled in the kingdom of men, and [that] he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
5:22 And thou his son, O Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic), hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
5:23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Mare*(Master) of shamayim; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy rabreban*(masters), thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the elahim (אלהין) of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the Elah (אלהּ) in whose yad (hand) thy breath [is], and whose [are] all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
5:24 Then was the part of the yad sent from him; and this writing was written.
5:25 And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE(מנא), MENE(מנא), TEKEL (תקל), VE PERESIN (פרסין):
5:26 This [is] the pesher (interpretation, explanation) of the thing: MENE(מנא): Elah (אלהּ) hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
5:27 TEKEL (תקל): Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
5:28 PERES (פרס): Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Maday (מדי) and Parsiy (פּרס)s.
5:29 Then commanded Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic), and they clothed Daniyel (דניאל) 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.
5:30 In that night was Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic) the king of the Kasdim (Chaldeans) slain.
5:31 And Daryavesh (דּריוש) the Median took the kingdom, [being] about threescore and two years old.
Belt'shatzar (בּלטשׁאצAramaic) = “Bel protect the king”
MENE מנא (Aramaic)(Peal) mina, maneh a weight or measurement; usually 50 shekels but maybe 60 shekels
TEKEL תּקל(Aramaic) to weigh (verb)(Peil) to be weighed tekel, shekel (noun masculine);
PERES פּרס(Aramaic)(Peal) to break in two, divide (verb);half-mina, half-shekel (noun masculine); a unit of measure and weight