Belshazzar* the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon 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 was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosed, and his knees knocked one against another.

Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation of it. Then was King Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonished.

Now the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: and she…said, "O king, live forever: let not your thoughts trouble you, nor let your countenance be changed: There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your ancestor light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the King Nebuchadnezzar...made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and diviners.

"Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel…now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation."

Then was Daniel brought in before Belshazzar. And the king spoke and said unto him, "I have even heard…that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in you. And I have heard…that you can make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if you can read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation of it, you shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom."

Then Daniel answered and said before the king, "Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O…king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar your ancestor a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor: 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.

"And you…O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this; But have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you, and your lords, your wives, and your concubines, have drunk wine in them; and you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, have you not glorified.

"Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. …‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.’ This is the interpretation of the thing:

• MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it.
• TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.
• PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

-Medo Persia-

In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius* the Median took the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

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…that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, "This says Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD 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. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel…."

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem. The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty.

Also Cyrus the king brought out the utensils of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought…out of Jerusalem…. Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. So the priests, and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nethinims, lived in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.

-Daniel-

"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, of which the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

"And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and awesome God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments: Neither have we listened unto your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

"O Lord, righteousness belongs unto you, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, even by departing, that they might not obey your voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against the LORD our God.

"And the LORD God has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand your truth. Therefore has the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he does: for we obeyed not his voice.

"And now, O Lord our God, that has brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten you renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate….

"O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our prayers before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him….

"O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and do; defer not, for your own sake, O my God: for your city and your people are called by your name.

"And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God…Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.

"And he…talked with me, and said, ‘O Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding. At the beginning of your prayers the commandment came out, and I am come to show you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.

" ‘Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

" ‘Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be sixty-nine weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

" ‘And after sixty-nine weeks shall Messiah* be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end of it shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

" ‘And Messiah the Prince shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease*, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.’ "

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel…and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.

*Belshazzar reigned in Babylon while his father Nabonidus lived in religious exile in Teima of Northern Arabia.

*Babylon fell to Cyrus and the Persian Empire in 539 B.C. Darius the Mede has been identified as Gubaru, a governor or "sub king" appointed by Cyrus king of Persia. Gubaru became governor of the largest province of Persia. His domain included Babylonia, Assyria, Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine.

*Gabriel informs Daniel the Messiah will redeem His people after 70 sets of seven years ("weeks" one day equals one year in prophetic time), beginning with the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. This command was given by Artexerxies I in 457 B.C. The Messiah, Gabriel says, is to be "cut off" at the end of 69 sets of sevens, or 483 years starting with the proclamation of Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. This is exactly what happens. Four hundred and eighty-three years brings us down to the very time of Jesus ministry and crucifixion, taking into account all the necessary calculations.

* Christ’s death on the cross-marked the end of animal sacrifice as the means of obtaining forgiveness of sin.

REFERENCES

Daniel 5:1, 3-6, 8-14, 16-18, 20, 22-28, 30; Ezra 1:1-3, 5, 7a, 8, 11; Ezra 1:5; Ezra 2:64, 70; Daniel 9:1-2, 4-7, 11-15, 17-18; Daniel 9:9; Daniel 9:19-27; Daniel 10:1.

CHAPTER 57