One night King Belshazzar invited a thousand noblemen to a great banquet, and they drank wine together.

While they were drinking, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver cups and bowls which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried off from the Temple in Jerusalem. The king sent for them so that he, his noblemen, his wives, and his concubines could drink out of them.

My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.

Then the Lord said to me, "Go and post a sentry, and tell him to report what he sees.

The sentry calls out, "Sir, I have been standing guard at my post day and night."

But in a moment, in a single day, both of these things will happen. In spite of all the magic you use, you will lose your husband and children.

The LORD has stirred up the kings of Media, because he intends to destroy Babylonia. That is how he will take revenge for the destruction of his Temple. The attacking officers command, "Sharpen your arrows! Get your shields ready!

Messenger after messenger runs to tell the king of Babylonia that his city has been broken into from every side.

Are they greedy? I will prepare them a feast and make them drunk and happy. They will go to sleep and never wake up.

I will make its rulers drunk--- men of wisdom, leaders, and soldiers. They will go to sleep and never wake up. I, the king, have spoken; I am the LORD Almighty.