Old TestamentBeginner II · Story 17Daniel 5:1-31

The Writing on the Wall

King Belshazzar makes a great feast for a thousand lords. A hand writes words on the wall, and the king is afraid. The wise men cannot read the words, but the queen says that Daniel can. Then Daniel speaks to the king. Read the story in simple English.

Start this storyStory + 4 lessons · ~41 min · free

The fingers of a hand write on a plaster wall beside a lamp stand, and nobody else is there

The words in this story

10 words you will really use: they appear in the story and in the exercises, and come back for review in the next stories.

feast
a big meal for many people, with special food and drink
noun
temple
the big building where people came to pray; in this story, the one in Jerusalem
noun
part
one piece of a thing, and not the whole of it
noun
knowledge
all the things that someone has learned and understands
noun
master
a man in charge of other people or of a house
noun
praise
to say that someone or something is very good and great
verb
show
to let someone see or know something
verb
raise
to lift someone or something up; also, to give someone a high place
verb
rule
to have power over a country and its people, as a king does
verb
divide
to separate into pieces
verb

What you'll discover

The moments of the story, in the order they happen.

Belshazzar makes a great feast and has the vessels of the temple in Jerusalem brought for the wine.
A hand writes words on the wall, the king is afraid, and the wise men cannot read the words.
The queen tells the king about Daniel, and Daniel says that he will read the words to the king.
Daniel speaks of Nebuchadnezzar, reads the words, and the king makes Daniel the third ruler.

Original verse

The verse that closes the story, in the World English Bible. After 4 lessons, this is how you read it: the real text, with nothing simplified.

Daniel 5:5 · WEB

In the same hour, the fingers of a man’s hand came out and wrote near the lamp stand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace. The king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Context

One detail about the scene, with the work it comes from.

The world of the story

Who had taken the vessels out of the temple? Daniel 5:2 says that Nebuchadnezzar, the father of Belshazzar, had taken them out of the temple which was in Jerusalem.

Source: World English Bible · Public domain

What a story looks like

First the whole story, in simple English with audio for every sentence. Then 4 short lessons, each with a piece of the story, a tip and exercises. At the end, the Bible verse and a little celebration.

The story · 19 sentences, with the meaning of each word on tap, 3 quick questions about the story
4 lessons · a piece of the story, a tip and exercises in each one
The original verse · the Bible text, unadapted, then the next story

Questions about this story

Which Bible passage is this story from?

Daniel 5, in the World English Bible.

What happens at the feast?

King Belshazzar and his lords drink wine from the golden and silver vessels that came from the temple in Jerusalem, and they praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone (Daniel 5:1-4).

What does the king see on the wall?

He sees the fingers of a man's hand write on the plaster of the wall near the lamp stand, and he is afraid (Daniel 5:5-6).

Who can read the words?

The wise men cannot read them. The queen tells the king about Daniel, and Daniel says that he will read the writing to the king (Daniel 5:8-17).

What does Daniel say about Nebuchadnezzar?

He says that God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom, and that when his heart became proud he lost his throne and lived with the wild donkeys until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men (Daniel 5:18-21).

How close is it to the Bible?

It follows Daniel 5 in order, in short sentences. It leaves out the promise of purple and a gold chain (5:7), Daniel's answer about the gifts (5:17), most of what Daniel says about Nebuchadnezzar (5:19-21), what Daniel says about Belshazzar himself (5:22-23) and Darius (5:31). The real verses at the end, Daniel 5:5, 5:27 and 5:28, show the hand that writes and what Daniel says of TEKEL and PERES.

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