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The writing on the wall

King Belshazzar gets a written judgement.
Contributed by Bible Scenes
Story also available on our translated websites: Spanish, German
1
King Belshazzar gave a big party for 1000 of his officials. As Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he ordered his servants to bring the gold and silver cups his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. So they brought the gold cups that had been taken from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his officials, his wives, and his mistresses drank from them. As they were drinking, they gave praise to their idol gods, which were only statues made from gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. – Slide 1
2
Suddenly, a person’s hand appeared and began writing on the wall. The fingers scratched words into the plaster on the wall, near the lampstand in the king’s palace. The king was watching the hand as it wrote. – Slide 2
3
King Belshazzar was very afraid. His face became white from fear, and his knees were shaking and knocking together. He could not stand up because his legs were too weak. – Slide 3
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The words read, ‘MENE, MENE’ … – Slide 4
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…followed by the word ‘TEKEL’ … – Slide 5
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And ended with the word … – Slide 6
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… ‘UPHARSIN’. – Slide 7
8
All the king’s wise men were called to explain the message, but they could not read the writing or understand what it meant. The king’s mother suggested they call the prophet of God called Daniel. They offered him a rich reward for explaining the text. <br/>He refused their gift but gave the meaning of God’s message. – Slide 8
9
Daniel explained that the King had become proud and worshipped false gods. <br/>The word ‘MENE’ means ‘God has counted the days until your kingdom will end.’ <br/>‘Tekel’ means ‘You have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough.’ <br/>And ‘Upharsin’ means, ‘Your kingdom is being taken from you. It will be divided among the Medes and Persians. <br/>That night the Medes and Persians invaded Babylon. Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, was killed and Darius the Mede became king. – Slide 9
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These are the same words but written in Aramaic Hebrew. – Slide 10
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Mene means a weight, like the Hebrew word ‘mina.’ – Slide 11
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This is like the word ‘to count.’ – Slide 12
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Tekel means a weight, like the Hebrew word ‘shekel.’ This word is like the word meaning ‘to weigh.’ – Slide 13
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Uparsin, literally, ‘peres,’ means a weight or ‘to split.’ – Slide 14
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This word is like the word meaning ‘to divide’. – Slide 15
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It is also like the name of the country of Persia. – Slide 16
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Slide 17