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Isaiah 13:19
Babylon, the most admired of kingdoms, the Chaldeans’ source of honor and pride, will be destroyed by God just as Sodom and Gomorrah were.
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Daniel 9:2
in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, came to understand from the sacred books that, according to the word of the LORD disclosed to the prophet Jeremiah, the years for the fulfilling of the desolation of Jerusalem were seventy in number.
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Jeremiah 29:10
“ For the LORD says,‘ Only when the seventy years of Babylonian rule are over will I again take up consideration for you. Then I will fulfill my gracious promise to you and restore you to your homeland.
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Ezra 1:1-2
In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, in order to fulfill the LORD’S message spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the mind of King Cyrus of Persia. He disseminated a proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, announcing in a written edict the following:“ Thus says King Cyrus of Persia:“‘ The LORD God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth. He has instructed me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
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Jeremiah 51:62-64
Then say,‘ O LORD, you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer. Certainly it will lie desolate forever!’When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River.Then say,‘ In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’” The prophecies of Jeremiah end here.
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Jeremiah 50:1-46
The LORD spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia through the prophet Jeremiah.“ Announce the news among the nations! Proclaim it! Signal for people to pay attention! Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:‘ Babylon will be captured. Bel will be put to shame. Marduk will be dismayed. Babylon’s idols will be put to shame. Her disgusting images will be dismayed.For a nation from the north will attack Babylon. It will lay her land waste. People and animals will flee out of it. No one will inhabit it.’“ When that time comes,” says the LORD,“ the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together. They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the LORD their God.They will ask the way to Zion; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the LORD in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.“ My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have allow them to go astray. They have wandered around in the mountains. They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. They have forgotten their resting place.All who encountered them devoured them. Their enemies who did this said,‘ We are not liable for punishment! For those people have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture. They have sinned against the LORD in whom their ancestors trusted.’“ People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia! Be the first to depart! Be like the male goats that lead the herd.For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier who does not return from the battle empty-handed.Babylonia will be plundered. Those who plunder it will take all they want,” says the LORD.“ People of Babylonia, you plundered my people. That made you happy and glad. You frolic about like calves in a pasture. Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion.But Babylonia will be put to great shame. The land where you were born will be disgraced. Indeed, Babylonia will become the least important of all nations. It will become a dry and barren desert.After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. It will be totally desolate. All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it.“ Take up your battle positions all around Babylon, all you soldiers who are armed with bows. Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! For she has sinned against the LORD.Shout the battle cry from all around the city. She will throw up her hands in surrender. Her towers will fall. Her walls will be torn down. Because I, the LORD, am wreaking revenge, take out your vengeance on her! Do to her as she has done!Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon. Kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time. Let all the foreigners return to their own people. Let them hurry back to their own lands to escape destruction by that enemy army.“ The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones.So I, the LORD God of Israel who rules over all, say:‘ I will punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria.But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture. They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan. They will eat until they are full on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead.When that time comes, no guilt will be found in Israel. No sin will be found in Judah. For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. I, the LORD, affirm it!’”The LORD says,“ Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! Do just as I have commanded you!The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia. There is the sound of great destruction.Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces. But see how that‘ hammer’ has been broken and shattered! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations!I set a trap for you, Babylon; you were caught before you knew it. You fought against me. So you were found and captured.I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored. I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath. For I, the Lord GOD who rules over all, have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia.Come from far away and attack Babylonia! Open up the places where she stores her grain! Pile her up in ruins! Destroy her completely! Do not leave anyone alive!Kill all her soldiers! Let them be slaughtered! They are doomed, for their day of reckoning has come, the time for them to be punished.”Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon. They are coming to Zion to declare there how the LORD our God is getting revenge, getting revenge for what they have done to his temple.“ Call for archers to come against Babylon! Summon against her all who draw the bow! Set up camp all around the city! Do not allow anyone to escape! Pay her back for what she has done. Do to her what she has done to others. For she has proudly defied me, the Holy One of Israel.So her young men will fall in her city squares. All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,” says the LORD.“ Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” says the Lord GOD who rules over all.“ Indeed, your day of reckoning has come, the time when I will punish you.You will stumble and fall, you proud city; no one will help you get up. I will set fire to your towns; it will burn up everything that surrounds you.”The LORD who rules over all says,“ The people of Israel are oppressed. So too are the people of Judah. All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners. They refuse to set them free.But the one who will rescue them is strong. He is known as the LORD who rules over all. He will strongly champion their cause. As a result he will bring peace and rest to the earth, but trouble and turmoil to the people who inhabit Babylonia.“ Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” says the LORD.“ They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia, against her leaders and her men of wisdom.Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; they will be shown to be fools! Destructive forces will come against her soldiers; they will be filled with terror!Destructive forces will come against her horses and her chariots. Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her; they will be as frightened as women! Destructive forces will come against her treasures; they will be taken away as plunder!A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up. All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear.Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there. Ostriches will dwell in it too. But no people will ever live there again. No one will dwell there for all time to come.I will destroy Babylonia just like I did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. No one will live there. No human being will settle in it,” says the LORD.“ Look! An army is about to come from the north. A mighty nation and many kings are stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth.Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears. They are cruel and show no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses. Lined up in formation like men going into battle, they are coming against you, fair Babylon!The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear when he hears news of their coming. Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.“ A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Babylonians off of their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me. There is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler that can stand up against me.So listen to what I, the LORD, have planned against Babylon, what I intend to do to the people who inhabit the land of Babylonia. Their little ones will be dragged off. I will completely destroy their land because of what they have done.The people of the earth will quake when they hear Babylon has been captured. Her cries of anguish will be heard by the other nations.”
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Isaiah 14:23
“ I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals and covered with pools of stagnant water. I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” says the LORD who commands armies.
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Deuteronomy 32:35-42
I will get revenge and pay them back at the time their foot slips; for the day of their disaster is near, and the impending judgment is rushing upon them!”The LORD will judge his people, and will change his plans concerning his servants; when he sees that their power has disappeared, and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.He will say,“ Where are their gods, the rock in whom they sought security,who ate the best of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise and help you; let them be your refuge!“ See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the LORD,“ and there is no other god besides me. I kill and give life, I smash and I heal, and none can resist my power.For I raise up my hand to heaven, and say,‘ As surely as I live forever,I will sharpen my lightning- like sword, and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; I will execute vengeance on my foes, and repay those who hate me!I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword will devour flesh– the blood of the slaughtered and captured, the chief of the enemy’s leaders!’”
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Jeremiah 25:14
For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation too. I will repay them for all they have done!’”
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Habakkuk 2:1-20
I will stand at my watch post; I will remain stationed on the city wall. I will keep watching, so I can see what he says to me and can know how I should answer when he counters my argument.The LORD responded:“ Write down this message! Record it legibly on tablets, so the one who announces it may read it easily.For the message is a witness to what is decreed; it gives reliable testimony about how matters will turn out. Even if the message is not fulfilled right away, wait patiently; for it will certainly come to pass– it will not arrive late.Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness.Indeed, wine will betray the proud, restless man! His appetite is as big as Sheol’s; like death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations; he seizes all peoples.“ But all these nations will someday taunt him and ridicule him with proverbial sayings:‘ The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead( How long will this go on?)– he who gets rich by extortion!’Your creditors will suddenly attack; those who terrify you will spring into action, and they will rob you.Because you robbed many countries, all who are left among the nations will rob you. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.The one who builds his house by unjust gain is as good as dead. He does this so he can build his nest way up high and escape the clutches of disaster.Your schemes will bring shame to your house. Because you destroyed many nations, you will self-destruct.For the stones in the walls will cry out, and the wooden rafters will answer back.The one who builds a city by bloodshed is as good as dead– he who starts a town by unjust deeds.Be sure of this! The LORD who commands armies has decreed: The nations’ efforts will go up in smoke; their exhausting work will be for nothing.For recognition of the LORD’s sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea.“ You who force your neighbor to drink wine are as good as dead– you who make others intoxicated by forcing them to drink from the bowl of your furious anger, so you can look at their genitals.But you will become drunk with shame, not majesty. Now it is your turn to drink and expose your uncircumcised foreskin! The cup of wine in the LORD’s right hand is coming to you, and disgrace will replace your majestic glory!For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.What good is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? Why would its creator place his trust in it and make such mute, worthless things?The one who says to wood,‘ Wake up!’ is as good as dead– he who says to speechless stone,‘ Awake!’ Can it give reliable guidance? It is overlaid with gold and silver; it has no life’s breath inside it.But the LORD is in his majestic palace. The whole earth is speechless in his presence!”
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Isaiah 13:1-14
This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz:On a bare hill raise a signal flag, shout to them, wave your hand, so they might enter the gates of the princes!I have given orders to my chosen soldiers; I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger, my boasting, arrogant ones.There is a loud noise on the mountains– it sounds like a large army! There is great commotion among the kingdoms– nations are being assembled! The LORD who commands armies is mustering forces for battle.They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the LORD with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth.Wail, for the LORD’s day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge.For this reason all hands hang limp, every human heart loses its courage.They panic– cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red.Look, the LORD’s day of judgment is coming; it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, destroying the earth and annihilating its sinners.Indeed the stars in the sky and their constellations no longer give out their light; the sun is darkened as soon as it rises, and the moon does not shine.I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.I will make human beings more scarce than pure gold, and people more scarce than gold from Ophir.So I will shake the heavens, and the earth will shake loose from its foundation, because of the fury of the LORD who commands armies, in the day he vents his raging anger.Like a frightened gazelle or a sheep with no shepherd, each will turn toward home, each will run to his homeland.
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Isaiah 15:6
For the waters of Nimrim are gone; the grass is dried up, the vegetation has disappeared, and there are no plants.
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Jeremiah 51:24-26
“ But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wicked things they did in Zion right before the eyes of you Judeans,” says the LORD.The LORD says,“ Beware! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth. I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain.No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone. No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house. For you will lie desolate forever,” says the LORD.
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Isaiah 46:1-47:1
Bel kneels down, Nebo bends low. Their images weigh down animals and beasts. Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals.Together they bend low and kneel down; they are unable to rescue the images; they themselves head off into captivity.“ Listen to me, O family of Jacob, all you who are left from the family of Israel, you who have been carried from birth, you who have been supported from the time you left the womb.Even when you are old, I will take care of you, even when you have gray hair, I will carry you. I made you and I will support you; I will carry you and rescue you.To whom can you compare and liken me? Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!Those who empty out gold from a purse and weigh out silver on the scale hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god. They then bow down and worship it.They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.Remember this, so you can be brave! Think about it, you rebels!Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! Truly I am God, I have no peer; I am God, and there is none like me,who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says,‘ My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,’who summons an eagle from the east, from a distant land, one who carries out my plan. Yes, I have decreed, yes, I will bring it to pass; I have formulated a plan, yes, I will carry it out.Listen to me, you stubborn people, you who distance yourself from doing what is right.I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away; I am bringing my salvation near, it does not wait. I will save Zion; I will adorn Israel with my splendor.”“ Fall down! Sit in the dirt, O virgin daughter Babylon! Sit on the ground, not on a throne, O daughter of the Babylonians! Indeed, you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
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Revelation 18:1-24
After these things I saw another angel, who possessed great authority, coming down out of heaven, and the earth was lit up by his radiance.He shouted with a powerful voice:“ Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detested beast.For all the nations have fallen from the wine of her immoral passion, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have gotten rich from the power of her sensual behavior.”Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,“ Come out of her, my people, so you will not take part in her sins and so you will not receive her plagues,because her sins have piled up all the way to heaven and God has remembered her crimes.Repay her the same way she repaid others; pay her back double corresponding to her deeds. In the cup she mixed, mix double the amount for her.As much as she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself,‘ I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’For this reason, she will experience her plagues in a single day: disease, mourning, and famine, and she will be burned down with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”Then the kings of the earth who committed immoral acts with her and lived in sensual luxury with her will weep and wail for her when they see the smoke from the fire that burns her up.They will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment, and will say,“ Woe, woe, O great city, Babylon the powerful city! For in a single hour your doom has come!”Then the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn for her because no one buys their cargo any longer–cargo such as gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all sorts of things made of citron wood, all sorts of objects made of ivory, all sorts of things made of expensive wood, bronze, iron and marble,cinnamon, spice, incense, perfumed ointment, frankincense, wine, olive oil and costly flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and four- wheeled carriages, slaves and human lives.( The ripe fruit you greatly desired has gone from you, and all your luxury and splendor have gone from you– they will never ever be found again!)The merchants who sold these things, who got rich from her, will stand a long way off because they are afraid of her torment. They will weep and mourn,saying,“ Woe, woe, O great city– dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls–because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!” And every ship’s captain, and all who sail along the coast– seamen, and all who make their living from the sea, stood a long way offand began to shout when they saw the smoke from the fire that burned her up,“ Who is like the great city?”And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning,“ Woe, Woe, O great city– in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth– because in a single hour she has been destroyed!”( Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has pronounced judgment against her on your behalf!)Then one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,“ With this kind of sudden violent force Babylon the great city will be thrown down and it will never be found again!And the sound of the harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. No craftsman who practices any trade will ever be found in you again; the noise of a mill will never be heard in you again.Even the light from a lamp will never shine in you again! The voices of the bridegroom and his bride will never be heard in you again. For your merchants were the tycoons of the world, because all the nations were deceived by your magic spells!The blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, along with the blood of all those who had been killed on the earth.”
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Ezekiel 35:9
I will turn you into a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
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Isaiah 20:1-21:17
The LORD revealed the following message during the year in which King Sargon of Assyria sent his commanding general to Ashdod, and he fought against it and captured it.At that time the LORD announced through Isaiah son of Amoz:“ Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments and barefoot.Later the LORD explained,“ In the same way that my servant Isaiah has walked around in undergarments and barefoot for the past three years, as an object lesson and omen pertaining to Egypt and Cush,so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, both young and old. They will be in undergarments and barefoot, with the buttocks exposed; the Egyptians will be publicly humiliated.Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed.At that time those who live on this coast will say,‘ Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: Like strong winds blowing in the south, one invades from the desert, from a land that is feared.I have received a distressing message:“ The deceiver deceives, the destroyer destroys. Attack, you Elamites! Lay siege, you Medes! I will put an end to all the groaning!”For this reason my stomach churns; cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed by what I hear, horrified by what I see.My heart palpitates, I shake in fear; the twilight I desired has brought me terror.Arrange the table, lay out the carpet, eat and drink! Get up, you officers, smear oil on the shields!For this is what the sovereign master has told me:“ Go, post a guard! He must report what he sees.When he sees chariots, teams of horses, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, very alert.”Then the guard cries out:“ On the watchtower, O sovereign master, I stand all day long; at my post I am stationed every night.Look what’s coming! A charioteer, a team of horses.” When questioned, he replies,“ Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”O my downtrodden people, crushed like stalks on the threshing floor, what I have heard from the LORD who commands armies, the God of Israel, I have reported to you.Here is a message about Dumah: Someone calls to me from Seir,“ Watchman, what is left of the night? Watchman, what is left of the night?”The watchman replies,“ Morning is coming, but then night. If you want to ask, ask; come back again.”Here is a message about Arabia: In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night, you Dedanite caravans.Bring out some water for the thirsty. You who live in the land of Tema, bring some food for the fugitives.For they flee from the swords– from the drawn sword and from the battle-ready bow and from the severity of the battle.For this is what the sovereign master has told me:“ Within exactly one year all the splendor of Kedar will come to an end.Just a handful of archers, the warriors of Kedar, will be left.” Indeed, the LORD God of Israel has spoken.
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Jeremiah 23:2
So the LORD God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people:“ You have caused my people to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. I, the LORD, affirm it!
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2 Kings 24 1
During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim was his subject for three years, but then he rebelled against him.
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Daniel 5:1-31
King Belshazzar prepared a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in front of them all.While under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels– the ones that Nebuchadnezzar his father had confiscated from the temple in Jerusalem– so that the king and his nobles, together with his wives and his concubines, could drink from them.So they brought the gold and silver vessels that had been confiscated from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, together with his wives and concubines, drank from them.As they drank wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.At that very moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the royal palace wall, opposite the lampstand. The king was watching the back of the hand that was writing.Then all the color drained from the king’s face and he became alarmed. The joints of his hips gave way, and his knees began knocking together.The king called out loudly to summon the astrologers, wise men, and diviners. The king proclaimed to the wise men of Babylon that anyone who could read this inscription and disclose its interpretation would be clothed in purple and have a golden collar placed on his neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.So all the king’s wise men came in, but they were unable to read the writing or to make known its interpretation to the king.Then King Belshazzar was very terrified, and he was visibly shaken. His nobles were completely dumbfounded.Due to the noise caused by the king and his nobles, the queen mother then entered the banquet room. She said,“ O king, live forever! Don’t be alarmed! Don’t be shaken!There is a man in your kingdom who has within him a spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, he proved to have insight, discernment, and wisdom like that of the gods. King Nebuchadnezzar your father appointed him chief of the magicians, astrologers, wise men, and diviners.Thus there was found in this man Daniel, whom the king renamed Belteshazzar, an extraordinary spirit, knowledge, and skill to interpret dreams, solve riddles, and decipher knotty problems. Now summon Daniel, and he will disclose the interpretation.”So Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel,“ Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives of Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah?I have heard about you, how there is a spirit of the gods in you, and how you have insight, discernment, and extraordinary wisdom.Now the wise men and astrologers were brought before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation. But they were unable to disclose the interpretation of the message.However, I have heard that you are able to provide interpretations and to decipher knotty problems. Now if you are able to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will wear purple and have a golden collar around your neck and be third ruler in the kingdom.”But Daniel replied to the king,“ Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else! However, I will read the writing for the king and make known its interpretation.As for you, O king, the most high God bestowed on your father Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, greatness, honor, and majesty.Due to the greatness that he bestowed on him, all peoples, nations, and language groups were trembling with fear before him. He killed whom he wished, he spared whom he wished, he exalted whom he wished, and he brought low whom he wished.And when his mind became arrogant and his spirit filled with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and his honor was removed from him.He was driven from human society, his mind was changed to that of an animal, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until he came to understand that the most high God rules over human kingdoms, and he appoints over them whomever he wishes.“ But you, his son Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself, although you knew all this.Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. You brought before you the vessels from his temple, and you and your nobles, together with your wives and concubines, drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone– gods that cannot see or hear or comprehend! But you have not glorified the God who has in his control your very breath and all your ways!Therefore the palm of a hand was sent from him, and this writing was inscribed.“ This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEQEL, and PHARSIN.This is the interpretation of the words: As for mene– God has numbered your kingdom’s days and brought it to an end.As for teqel– you are weighed on the balances and found to be lacking.As for peres– your kingdom is divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”Then, on Belshazzar’s orders, Daniel was clothed in purple, a golden collar was placed around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.And in that very night Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, was killed.( 6: 1) So Darius the Mede took control of the kingdom when he was about sixty-two years old.
