다니엘 5

Belshazzar’s feast

¹King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine in front of them all.^{a 2}While Belshazzar was tasting the wine, he ordered that the gold and silver vessels his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought in, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines could drink from them.^{b 3}So the gold vessels that had been carried off from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, were brought in, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. ⁴They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone. ⁵At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the palace wall, across from the lampstand. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶Then the king turned pale. His thoughts terrified him, his legs gave way, and his knees knocked together. ⁷The king shouted for the enchanters, Chaldeans and diviners to be brought in. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Anyone who can read this writing and tell me what it means will be dressed in purple and have a gold chain around his neck, and he will be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

The wise men fail

⁸Then all the king’s wise men came in, but none of them could read the writing or tell the king what it meant. ⁹Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew pale, and his nobles were bewildered. ¹⁰The queen, hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. The queen said, “O king, may you live forever! Do not be alarmed, and do not let your face grow pale.^{c 11}In your kingdom there is a man in whom the spirit of the holy gods lives. In your father’s time he showed insight, understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans and diviners. Yes, your father the king did this, ¹²because this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles and solve hard problems. So now let Daniel be called, and he will tell you what the writing means.”

Daniel before Belshazzar

¹³So Daniel was brought in before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you that Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴I have heard about you: the spirit of the gods is in you, and you have insight, understanding and extraordinary wisdom. ¹⁵The wise men and enchanters were brought in before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it. ¹⁶But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve hard problems. Now if you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be dressed in purple and have a gold chain around your neck, and you will be the third ruler in the kingdom.”

Daniel reads the writing

¹⁷Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts and give your rewards to someone else. Still, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. ¹⁸O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom, greatness, glory and majesty. ¹⁹Because of the greatness he gave him, all the peoples, nations and people of every language trembled and were afraid of him. He put to death anyone he wanted to, and let live anyone he wanted to. He raised up anyone he wanted to, and humbled anyone he wanted to. ²⁰But when his heart became proud and his spirit hardened in arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and his glory was stripped from him. ²¹He was driven away from people, and his mind was made like that of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and was fed grass like cattle, and his body was soaked with the dew of heaven, until he came to know that the Most High God rules over human kingdoms and sets over them anyone he chooses. ²²But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, even though you knew all this. ²³Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the vessels from his house brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor understand. Yet you have not honored the God who holds your life in his hand and controls everything you do. ²⁴That is why he sent the hand that wrote this inscription. ²⁵This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL and PARSIN.^{d 26}This is what the words mean: MENE: God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. ²⁷TEKEL: you have been weighed on the scales and found too light. ²⁸PERES: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” ²⁹Then at Belshazzar’s command Daniel was dressed in purple, a gold chain was put around his neck, and it was proclaimed that he would be the third ruler in the kingdom. ³⁰That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was killed.