(We too are HIS vessels respect for human's life and dignity)
Daniel 5:1-6,13-14,16-17,23-28 ©
King
Belshazzar gave a great banquet for his noblemen; a thousand of them
attended, and he drank
wine in company with this thousand. As he sipped
his wine, Belshazzar gave orders for the gold and silver vessels to be
brought which his father Nebuchadnezzar had looted from the sanctuary in
Jerusalem, so that the king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing
women could drink out of them. The gold and silver vessels looted from
the sanctuary of the Temple of God in Jerusalem were brought in, and the
king, his noblemen, his wives and his singing women drank out of them.
They drank their wine and praised their gods of gold and silver, of
bronze and iron, of wood and stone. Suddenly the fingers of a human hand
appeared, and began to write on the plaster of the palace wall,
directly behind the lamp-stand; and the king could see the hand as it
wrote. The king turned pale with alarm: his thigh-joints went slack and
his knees began to knock.
Daniel was brought into the king’s presence; the king
said to Daniel, ‘Are you the Daniel who was one of the Judaean exiles
brought by my father the king from Judah? I am told that the spirit of
God Most Holy lives in you, and that you are known for your perception,
intelligence and marvellous wisdom. As I am told that you are able to
give interpretations and to unravel difficult problems, if you can read
the writing and tell me what it means, you shall be dressed in purple,
and have a chain of gold put round your neck, and be third in rank in
the kingdom.’
Then Daniel spoke up in the presence of the king.
‘Keep your gifts for yourself,’ he said ‘and give your rewards to
others. I will read the writing to the king without them, and tell him
what it means. You have defied the Lord of heaven, you have had the
vessels from his Temple brought to you, and you, your noblemen, your
wives and your singing women have drunk your wine out of them. You have
praised gods of gold and silver, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone,
which cannot either see, hear or understand; but you have given no glory
to the God who holds your breath and all your fortunes in his hands.
That is why he has sent the hand which, by itself, has written these
words. The writing reads: Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin. The meaning of the words is this: Mene: God has measured your sovereignty and put an end to it; Tekel: you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Parsin: your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.’
