Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.

七十年满了以后，我必刑罚巴比伦王和那国民，并迦勒底人之地，因他们的罪孽使那地永远荒凉。这是耶和华说的。

七十年满了以后，我必惩罚巴比伦王和那国，并迦勒底人之地，因他们的罪孽使那地永远荒凉。这是耶和华说的。

七十年满了以后，我必惩罚巴比伦王和那国，并迦勒底人之地，因他们的罪孽使那地永远荒凉。这是耶和华说的。

七十年后，我要报应巴比伦王和他国民迦勒底人的罪，使他们的土地永远荒凉。这是耶和华说的。

“七十年满了以后，我要按着他们的罪孽惩罚巴比伦王和那国，就是迦勒底人之地，使它永远荒凉。”这是耶和华的宣告。

七十年滿了以後，我必刑罰巴比倫王和那國民，並迦勒底人之地，因他們的罪孽使那地永遠荒涼。這是耶和華說的。

七十年滿了以後，我必懲罰巴比倫王和那國，並迦勒底人之地，因他們的罪孽使那地永遠荒涼。這是耶和華說的。

七十年滿了以後，我必懲罰巴比倫王和那國，並迦勒底人之地，因他們的罪孽使那地永遠荒涼。這是耶和華說的。

七十年後，我要報應巴比倫王和他國民迦勒底人的罪，使他們的土地永遠荒涼。這是耶和華說的。

“七十年滿了以後，我要按著他們的罪孽懲罰巴比倫王和那國，就是迦勒底人之地，使它永遠荒涼。”這是耶和華的宣告。

『七十年滿了以後，永恆主發神諭說，我必察罰巴比倫王以及那國，我必鑒察他們的罪孽，察罰迦勒底人之地，使它永遠荒涼。

七十年既竟、我必罰巴比倫王與其國、及迦勒底人之地、使之永久荒蕪、以治其罪、耶和華言之矣、

耶和華又曰、七十年之期既屆、我降罰於巴比倫之君民、治其罪戾、使迦勒底土地荒蕪、歷久若此。

七十年之期既畢、我降罰於巴比倫王與迦勒底民、治其罪戾、使迦勒底土地永為荒蕪、此乃主所言、

“ But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the Lord,“ and will make it desolate forever.

“‘ But I will punish that king and his nation because they are guilty. I will do this when the 70 years are over,’ announces the Lord.‘ I will make that land a desert forever.

“ Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord.“ I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever.

When the seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’— this is the LORD’s declaration—‘ the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, and I will make it a ruin forever.

‘ Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord,‘ for their wrongdoing, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.

‘ Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord;‘ and I will make it a perpetual desolation.

And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith Jehovah, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate for ever.

When the 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation’— this is the Lord’s declaration—‘ the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will make it a ruin forever.

And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished,[ that] I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.

“‘ But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon an everlasting ruin. I, the LORD, affirm it!

“ It will happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” says Yahweh,“ for their iniquity. I will make the land of the Chaldeans desolate forever.

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans, will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.

in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

“ For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.

In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:“ Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

and say,‘ O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be desolate forever.’When you finish reading this book, tie a stone to it and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates,and say,‘ Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, and they shall become exhausted.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet:“ Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say:‘ Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.’“ For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.“ In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God.They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying,‘ Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’“ My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold.All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said,‘ We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’“ Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock.For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.“ Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions,your mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced. Behold, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited but shall be an utter desolation; everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled, and hiss because of all her wounds.Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord.Raise a shout against her all around; she has surrendered; her bulwarks have fallen; her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done.Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest; because of the sword of the oppressor, every one shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land.“ Israel is a hunted sheep driven away by lions. First the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has gnawed his bones.Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, as I punished the king of Assyria.I will restore Israel to his pasture, and he shall feed on Carmel and in Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in Gilead.In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.“ Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill, and devote them to destruction, declares the Lord, and do all that I have commanded you.The noise of battle is in the land, and great destruction!How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and broken! How Babylon has become a horror among the nations!I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon, and you did not know it; you were found and caught, because you opposed the Lord.The Lord has opened his armory and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.Come against her from every quarter; open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction; let nothing be left of her.Kill all her bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come, the time of their punishment.“ A voice! They flee and escape from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.“ Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.“ Behold, I am against you, O proud one, declares the Lord God of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.The proud one shall stumble and fall, with none to raise him up, and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it will devour all that is around him.“ Thus says the Lord of hosts: The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; they refuse to let them go.Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.“ A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her officials and her wise men!A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, that they may be destroyed!A sword against her horses and against her chariots, and against all the foreign troops in her midst, that they may become women! A sword against all her treasures, that they may be plundered!A drought against her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols.“ Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon, and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations.As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.“ Behold, a people comes from the north; a mighty nation and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.They lay hold of bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy. The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea; they ride on horses, arrayed as a man for battle against you, O daughter of Babylon!“ The king of Babylon heard the report of them, and his hands fell helpless; anguish seized him, pain as of a woman in labor.“ Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me?Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate.At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

“ And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” declares the Lord of hosts.

Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free.Then he will say,‘ Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge,who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection!“‘ See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever,if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me.I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’

For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.And the Lord answered me:“ Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end— it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.“ Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith.“ Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”Shall not all these take up their taunt against him, with scoffing and riddles for him, and say,“ Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own— for how long?— and loads himself with pledges!”Will not your debtors suddenly arise, and those awake who will make you tremble? Then you will be spoil for them.Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.“ Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house, to set his nest on high, to be safe from the reach of harm!You have devised shame for your house by cutting off many peoples; you have forfeited your life.For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork respond.“ Woe to him who builds a town with blood and founds a city on iniquity!Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing?For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.“ Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!The violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you, as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them, for the blood of man and violence to the earth, to cities and all who dwell in them.“ What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise! Can this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in it.But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.”

The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.On a bare hill raise a signal; cry aloud to them; wave the hand for them to enter the gates of the nobles.I myself have commanded my consecrated ones, and have summoned my mighty men to execute my anger, my proudly exulting ones.The sound of a tumult is on the mountains as of a great multitude! The sound of an uproar of kingdoms, of nations gathering together! The Lord of hosts is mustering a host for battle.They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every human heart will melt.They will be dismayed: pangs and agony will seize them; they will be in anguish like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at one another; their faces will be aflame.Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it.For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir.Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.And like a hunted gazelle, or like sheep with none to gather them, each will turn to his own people, and each will flee to his own land.

the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, the greenery is no more.

“ I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.“ Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, declares the Lord, which destroys the whole earth; I will stretch out my hand against you, and roll you down from the crags, and make you a burnt mountain.No stone shall be taken from you for a corner and no stone for a foundation, but you shall be a perpetual waste, declares the Lord.

Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts.They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.“ Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb;even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.“ To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.“ Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying,‘ My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.“ Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness:I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate.

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.And he called out with a mighty voice,“ Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,“ Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed.As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says,‘ I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.’For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her.”And the kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her, will weep and wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning.They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say,“ Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore,cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble,cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.“ The fruit for which your soul longed has gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again!”The merchants of these wares, who gained wealth from her, will stand far off, in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud,“ Alas, alas, for the great city that was clothed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels, and with pearls!For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.” And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far offand cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning,“ What city was like the great city?”And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying out,“ Alas, alas, for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth! For in a single hour she has been laid waste.Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has given judgment for you against her!”Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,“ So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more,and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on earth.”

I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

In the year that the commander in chief, who was sent by Sargon the king of Assyria, came to Ashdod and fought against it and captured it—at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying,“ Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking naked and barefoot.Then the Lord said,“ As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.Then they shall be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and of Egypt their boast.And the inhabitants of this coastland will say in that day,‘ Behold, this is what has happened to those in whom we hoped and to whom we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria! And we, how shall we escape?’”The oracle concerning the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on, it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land.A stern vision is told to me; the traitor betrays, and the destroyer destroys. Go up, O Elam; lay siege, O Media; all the sighing she has caused I bring to an end.Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.They prepare the table, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink. Arise, O princes; oil the shield!For thus the Lord said to me:“ Go, set a watchman; let him announce what he sees.When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, let him listen diligently, very diligently.”Then he who saw cried out:“ Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord, continually by day, and at my post I am stationed whole nights.And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!” And he answered,“ Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.”O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.The oracle concerning Dumah. One is calling to me from Seir,“ Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?”The watchman says:“ Morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.”The oracle concerning Arabia. In the thickets in Arabia you will lodge, O caravans of Dedanites.To the thirsty bring water; meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema.For they have fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the press of battle.For thus the Lord said to me,“ Within a year, according to the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end.And the remainder of the archers of the mighty men of the sons of Kedar will be few, for the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken.”

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people:“ You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him.

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote.Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon,“ Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation.Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared,“ O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change.There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father— your father the king— made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers,because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel,“ You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah.I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter.But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”Then Daniel answered and said before the king,“ Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation.O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty.And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled.But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will.And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.“ Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed.And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin.This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end;Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting;Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.