The Living Bible (276 page)

Daniel
5

Belshazzar the king invited a thousand of his officers to a great feast where the wine flowed freely.
^2-4
 While Belshazzar was drinking, he was reminded of the gold and silver cups taken long before from the Temple in Jerusalem during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign and brought to Babylon. Belshazzar ordered that these sacred cups be brought in to the feast, and when they arrived, he and his princes, wives, and concubines drank toasts from them to their idols made of gold and silver, brass and iron, wood and stone.

    
⁵
 Suddenly, as they were drinking from these cups, they saw the fingers of a man’s hand writing on the plaster of the wall opposite the lampstand. The king himself saw the fingers as they wrote.
⁶
 His face blanched with fear, and such terror gripped him that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way beneath him.

    
⁷
 “Bring the magicians and astrologers!” he screamed. “Bring the Chaldeans! Whoever reads that writing on the wall and tells me what it means will be dressed in purple robes of royal honor, with a gold chain around his neck, and he will become the third ruler in the kingdom!”
*

    
⁸
 But when they came, none of them could understand the writing or tell him what it meant.

    
⁹
 The king grew more and more hysterical; his face reflected the terror he felt, and his officers too were shaken.
¹⁰
 But when the queen mother heard what was happening, she rushed to the banquet hall and said to Belshazzar, “Calm yourself, Your Majesty, don’t be so pale and frightened over this.
¹¹
 For there is a man in your kingdom who has within him the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father this man was found to be as full of wisdom and understanding as though he were himself a god. And in the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar,
*
he was made chief of all the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers of Babylon.
¹²
 Call for this man, Daniel—or Belteshazzar, as the king called him—for his mind is filled with divine knowledge and understanding. He can interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve knotty problems. He will tell you what the writing means.”

    
¹³
 So Daniel was rushed in to see the king. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel brought from Israel as a captive by King Nebuchadnezzar?
¹⁴
 I have heard that you have the spirit of the gods within you and that you are filled with enlightenment and wisdom.
¹⁵
 My wise men and astrologers have tried to read that writing on the wall and tell me what it means, but they can’t.
¹⁶
 I am told you can solve all kinds of mysteries. If you can tell me the meaning of those words, I will clothe you in purple robes, with a gold chain around your neck, and make you the third ruler in the kingdom.”

    
¹⁷
 Daniel answered, “Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means.
¹⁸
 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar, who long ago preceded you, a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor.
¹⁹
 He gave him such majesty that all the nations of the world trembled before him in fear. He killed any who offended him and spared any he liked. At his whim they rose or fell.
²⁰
 But when his heart and mind were hardened in pride, God removed him from his royal throne and took away his glory.
²¹
 He was chased out of his palace into the fields. His thoughts and feelings became those of an animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys; he ate grass like the cows, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until at last he knew that the Most High overrules the kingdoms of men and appoints anyone he desires to reign over them.

    
²²
 “And you, his successor, O Belshazzar—you knew all this, yet you have not been humble.
²³
 For you have defied the Lord of Heaven and brought here these cups from his Temple; and you and your officers and wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, brass, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not praised the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!
^24-25
 And so God sent those fingers to write this message:
‘Mene,’ ‘Mene,’ ‘Tekel,’ ‘Parsin.’

    
²⁶
 “This is what it means:

    
“Mene
means ‘numbered’—God has numbered the days of your reign, and they are ended.

    
²⁷
 
“Tekel
means ‘weighed’—you have been weighed in God’s balances and have failed the test.

    
²⁸
 
“Parsin
means ‘divided’—your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

    
²⁹
 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was robed in purple, a gold chain was hung around his neck, and he was proclaimed third ruler in the kingdom.

    
³⁰
 That very night Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed,
³¹
 and Darius the Mede
*
entered the city and began reigning at the age of sixty-two.

Daniel
6

Darius divided the kingdom into 120 provinces, each under a governor.
²
 The governors were accountable to three presidents (Daniel was one of them) so the king could administer the kingdom efficiently.

    
³
 Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other presidents and governors, for he had great ability, and the king began to think of placing him over the entire empire as his administrative officer.

    
⁴
 This made the other presidents and governors very jealous, and they began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling his affairs so that they could complain to the king about him. But they couldn’t find anything to criticize! He was faithful and honest and made no mistakes.
⁵
 So they concluded, “Our only chance is his religion!”

    
⁶
 They decided to go to the king and say, “King Darius, live forever!
⁷
 We presidents, governors, counselors, and deputies have unanimously decided that you should make a law, irrevocable under any circumstance, that for the next thirty days anyone who asks a favor of God or man—except from you, Your Majesty—shall be thrown to the lions.
⁸
 Your Majesty, we request your signature on this law; sign it so that it cannot be canceled or changed; it will be a ‘law of the Medes and Persians’ that cannot be revoked.”

    
⁹
 So King Darius signed the law.

    
¹⁰
 But though Daniel knew about it, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs bedroom, with its windows open toward Jerusalem, and prayed three times a day, just as he always had, giving thanks to his God.

    
¹¹
 Then the men thronged to Daniel’s house and found him praying there, asking favors of his God.
¹²
 They rushed back to the king and reminded him about his law. “Haven’t you signed a decree,” they demanded, “that permits no petitions to any God or man—except you—for thirty days? And anyone disobeying will be thrown to the lions?”

    
“Yes,” the king replied, “it is ‘a law of the Medes and Persians,’ that cannot be altered or revoked.”

    
¹³
 Then they told the king, “That fellow Daniel, one of the Jewish captives, is paying no attention to you or your law. He is asking favors of his God three times a day.”

    
¹⁴
 Hearing this, the king was very angry with himself for signing the law and determined to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day trying to think of some way to get Daniel out of this predicament.

    
¹⁵
 In the evening the men came again to the king and said, “Your Majesty, there is nothing you can do. You signed the law, and it cannot be changed.”

    
¹⁶
 So at last the king gave the order for Daniel’s arrest, and he was taken to the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you worship continually, deliver you.” And then they threw him in.
¹⁷
 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with that of his government, so that no one could rescue Daniel from the lions.

    
¹⁸
 Then the king returned to his palace and went to bed without dinner. He refused his usual entertainment and didn’t sleep all night.
¹⁹
 Very early the next morning he hurried out to the lions’ den
²⁰
 and called out in anguish, “O Daniel, servant of the Living God, was your God, whom you worship continually, able to deliver you from the lions?”

    
²¹
 Then he heard a voice! “Your Majesty, live forever!” It was Daniel!
²²
 “My God has sent his angel,” he said, “to shut the lions’ mouths so that they can’t touch me, for I am innocent before God; nor, sir, have I wronged you.”

    
²³
 The king was beside himself with joy and ordered Daniel lifted from the den. And not a scratch was found on him because he believed in his God.

    
²⁴
 Then the king issued a command to bring the men who had accused Daniel and throw them into the den along with their children and wives, and the lions leaped upon them and tore them apart before they even hit the bottom of the den.

    
^25-26
 Afterward King Darius wrote this message addressed to everyone in his empire:

    
“Greetings! I decree that everyone shall tremble and fear before the God of Daniel in every part of my kingdom. For his God is the living, unchanging God whose kingdom shall never be destroyed and whose power shall never end.
²⁷
 He delivers his people, preserving them from harm; he does great miracles in heaven and earth; it is he who delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

    
²⁸
 So Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.