Daniel 5:22-29

22King Belshazzar, you are Nebuchadnezzar's son, and you knew all that. But you did not become humble.

23You thought that you were greater than the Lord of heaven. So you told your servants to bring the valuable cups that belong to God's temple. You yourself, your wives, your other women and your important friends drank wine from those cups. You praised your gods that were made from silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone. Those are idols that cannot see or hear. They cannot understand anything. But you worshipped them instead of the true God. He is the God who gives life to you. He has power over everything that you do.

24Because of that, God sent the hand that wrote this message.

25These are the words: Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.

26This is what the words mean: Mene means “counted”. It shows that God has counted the days of your kingdom. Now these days are finished. Your kingdom has come to an end.

27Tekel means “weighed”. It shows that God has weighed you. But the scales show that you are too light.

28Peres means “separate”. It shows that God has cut your kingdom into two separate parts. He has given it to the people from Media and Persia.’

29When Belshazzar heard that, he caused his servants to put purple clothes on Daniel. They put a gold chain round his neck to show that he was an important person. The king told everyone that Daniel had become the third ruler in the kingdom.