5 Then suddenly a person’s hand appeared. The fingers wrote words on the plaster on the wall. This was near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.
6 King Belshazzar was very frightened. His face turned white, and his knees knocked together. He could not stand up because his legs were too weak.
7 The king called for the magicians and wise men to be brought to him. He said to the wise men of Babylon, “I will give a reward to anyone who can read this writing and explain it. I will give him purple clothes fit for a king. I will put a gold chain around his neck. And I will make him the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
8 So all the king’s wise men came in. But they could not read the writing. And they could not tell the king what it meant.
9 King Belshazzar became even more afraid. His face became even whiter. His royal guests were confused.
10 Then the king’s mother came into the banquet room. She had heard the voices of the king and his royal guests. She said, “My king, live forever! Don’t be afraid! Don’t let your face be white with fear!
11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father, this man showed understanding, knowledge and wisdom. He was like the gods in these things. Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, put this man in charge of all the wise men. He ruled over all the fortune-tellers, magicians and wise men.