‘ 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.

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 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.

“ 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.

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 beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

For thus says the Lord: After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.

Now 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, saying,Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.

then you shall say,‘ O Lord, You have spoken against this place to cut it off, so that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but it shall be desolate forever.’Now it shall be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall tie a stone to it and throw it out into the Euphrates.Then you shall say,‘ Thus Babylon shall sink and not rise from the catastrophe that I will bring upon her. And they shall be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

The word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.“ Declare among the nations, Proclaim, and set up a standard; Proclaim— do not conceal it— Say,‘ Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; Her idols are humiliated, Her images are broken in pieces.’For out of the north a nation comes up against her, Which shall make her land desolate, And no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, Both man and beast.“ In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,“ The children of Israel shall come, They and the children of Judah together; With continual weeping they shall come, And seek the Lord their God.They shall ask the way to Zion, With their faces toward it, saying,‘ Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord In a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’“ My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.All who found them have devoured them; And their adversaries said,‘ We have not offended, Because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, The Lord, the hope of their fathers.’“ Move from the midst of Babylon, Go out of the land of the Chaldeans; And be like the rams before the flocks.For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country, And they shall array themselves against her; From there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; None shall return in vain.And Chaldea shall become plunder; All who plunder her shall be satisfied,” says the Lord.“ Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, You destroyers of My heritage, Because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, And you bellow like bulls,Your mother shall be deeply ashamed; She who bore you shall be ashamed. Behold, the least of the nations shall be a wilderness, A dry land and a desert.Because of the wrath of the Lord She shall not be inhabited, But she shall be wholly desolate. Everyone who goes by Babylon shall be horrified And hiss at all her plagues.“ Put 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.Shout against her all around; She has given her hand, Her foundations have fallen, Her walls are thrown down; For it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.Cut off the sower from Babylon, And him who handles the sickle at harvest time. For fear of the oppressing sword Everyone shall turn to his own people, And everyone shall flee to his own land.“ Israel is like scattered sheep; The lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:“ Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, As I have punished the king of Assyria.But I will bring back Israel to his home, And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan; His soul shall be satisfied on Mount Ephraim and Gilead.In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,“ The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none; And the sins of Judah, but they shall not be found; For I will pardon those whom I preserve.“ Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,“ And do according to all that I have commanded you.A sound of battle is in the land, And of great destruction.How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!I have laid a snare for you; You have indeed been trapped, O Babylon, And you were not aware; You have been found and also caught, Because you have contended against the Lord.The Lord has opened His armory, And has brought out the weapons of His indignation; For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts In the land of the Chaldeans.Come against her from the farthest border; Open her storehouses; Cast her up as heaps of ruins, And destroy her utterly; Let nothing of her be left.Slay all her bulls, Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their punishment.The voice of those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon Declares in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, The vengeance of His temple.“ Call together the archers against Babylon. All you who bend the bow, encamp against it all around; Let none of them escape. Repay her according to her work; According to all she has done, do to her; For she has been proud against the Lord, Against the Holy One of Israel.Therefore her young men shall fall in the streets, And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day,” says the Lord.“ Behold, I am against you, O most haughty one!” says the Lord GOD of hosts;“ For your day has come, The time that I will punish you.The most proud shall stumble and fall, And no one will raise him up; I will kindle a fire in his cities, And it will devour all around him.”Thus says the Lord of hosts:“ The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go.Their Redeemer is strong; The Lord of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, That He may give rest to the land, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.“ A sword is against the Chaldeans,” says the Lord,“ Against the inhabitants of Babylon, And against her princes and her wise men.A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.A sword is against their horses, Against their chariots, And against all the mixed peoples who are in her midst; And they will become like women. A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed.A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols.“ Therefore the wild desert beasts shall dwell there with the jackals, And the ostriches shall dwell in it. It shall be inhabited no more forever, Nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors,” says the Lord,“ So no one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it.“ Behold, a people shall come from the north, And a great nation and many kings Shall be raised up from the ends of the earth.They shall hold the bow and the lance; They are cruel and shall not show mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea; They shall ride on horses, Set in array, like a man for the battle, Against you, O daughter of Babylon.“ The king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands grow feeble; Anguish has taken hold of him, Pangs as of a woman in childbirth.“ Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the floodplain of the Jordan Against the dwelling place of the strong; But I will make them suddenly run away from her. And who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that shepherd Who will withstand Me?”Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord that He has taken against Babylon, And His purposes that He has proposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; Surely He will make their dwelling place desolate with them.At the noise of the taking of Babylon The earth trembles, And the cry is heard among the nations.

“ I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, And marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction,” says the Lord of hosts.

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.’“ For the Lord will judge His people And have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their power is gone, And there is no one remaining, bond or free.He will say:‘ Where are their gods, The rock in which they sought refuge?Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you, And be your refuge.‘ Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.For I raise My hand to heaven, And say,“ As I live forever,If I whet My glittering sword, And My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, And 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 heads of the leaders of the enemy.”’

( For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)’”

I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.Then the Lord answered me and said:“ Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.“ Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.“ Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, And he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples.“ Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say,‘ Woe to him who increases What is not his— how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’?Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty.Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you, Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it.“ Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house, That he may set his nest on high, That he may be delivered from the power of disaster!You give shameful counsel to your house, Cutting off many peoples, And sin against your soul.For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the beam from the timbers will answer it.“ Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity!Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain?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 gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle, Even to make him drunk, That you may look on his nakedness!You are filled with shame instead of glory. You also— drink! And be exposed as uncircumcised! The cup of the LORD’s right hand will be turned against you, And utter shame will be on your glory.For the violence done to Lebanon will cover you, And the plunder of beasts which made them afraid, Because of men’s blood And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it.“ What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it, To make mute idols?Woe to him who says to wood,‘ Awake!’ To silent stone,‘ Arise! It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, Yet in it there is no breath at all.“ But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.”

The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.“ Lift up a banner on the high mountain, Raise your voice to them; Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have also called My mighty ones for My anger— Those who rejoice in My exaltation.”The noise of a multitude in the mountains, Like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts musters The army for battle.They come from a far country, From the end of heaven— The Lord and His weapons of indignation, To destroy the whole land.Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.Therefore all hands will be limp, Every man’s heart will melt,And they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; They will be amazed at one another; Their faces will be like flames.Behold, the day of the Lord comes, Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, To lay the land desolate; And He will destroy its sinners from it.For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.“ I will punish the world for its evil, And the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold, A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.Therefore I will shake the heavens, And the earth will move out of her place, In the wrath of the Lord of hosts And in the day of His fierce anger.It shall be as the hunted gazelle, And as a sheep that no man takes up; Every man will turn to his own people, And everyone will flee to his own land.

For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate, For the green grass has withered away; The grass fails, there is nothing green.

“ And I will repay Babylon And all the inhabitants of Chaldea For all the evil they have done In Zion in your sight,” says the Lord.“ Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, Who destroys all the earth,” says the Lord.“ And I will stretch out My hand against you, Roll you down from the rocks, And make you a burnt mountain.They shall not take from you a stone for a corner Nor a stone for a foundation, But you shall be desolate forever,” says the Lord.

Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded, A burden to the weary beast.They stoop, they bow down together; They could not deliver the burden, But have themselves gone into captivity.“ Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb:Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.“ To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?They lavish gold out of the bag, And weigh silver on the scales; They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship.They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it And set it in its place, and it stands; From its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer Nor save him out of his trouble.“ Remember this, and show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O 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 that are not yet done, Saying,‘ My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.“ Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, Who are far from righteousness:I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger. And I will place 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 these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory.And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying,“ Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”And I heard another voice from heaven saying,“ Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her.In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart,‘ I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’Therefore her plagues will come in one day— death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.“ The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning,standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying,‘ Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’“ And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore:merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble;and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,and saying,‘ Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.’ Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distanceand cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying,‘ What is like this great city?’“ They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying,‘ Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.’“ Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!”Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,“ Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore.The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.”

I will make you perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; then you shall know that I am the Lord.

In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it,at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying,“ Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet.” And he did so, walking naked and barefoot.Then the Lord said,“ Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia,so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory.And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day,‘ Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?’”The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea. As whirlwinds in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land.A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease.Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!For thus has the Lord said to me:“ Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees.”And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care.Then he cried,“ A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night.And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!” Then he answered and said,“ Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground.”Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you.The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir,“ Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”The watchman said,“ The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!”The burden against Arabia. In the forest in Arabia you will lodge, O you traveling companies of Dedanites.O inhabitants of the land of Tema, Bring water to him who is thirsty; With their bread they met him who fled.For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.For thus the Lord has said to me:“ Within a year, according to the year of a hired man, all the glory of Kedar will fail;and the remainder of the number of archers, the mighty men of the people of Kedar, will be diminished; for the Lord God of Israel has spoken it.”

Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people:“ You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord.

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

Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been 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 and iron, wood and stone.In the same hour the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.Then the king’s countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon,“ Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”Now all the king’s wise men came, but they could not read the writing, or make known to the king its interpretation.Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came to the banquet hall. The queen spoke, saying,“ O king, live forever! Do not let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance change.There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And 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, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers.Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.”Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel,“ Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.Now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing.And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. 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; yet 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 a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor.And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down.But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.“ But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this.And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house 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, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.“ And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.