The Handwriting on the Wall
1 King oBelshazzar pmade a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the qvessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father1 had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of rgold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 sImmediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then tthe king’s color changed, and uhis thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. 7 The king vcalled loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared2 to the wise men of Babylon, w“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be xclothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ythey could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.
10 The queen,3 because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, zlive forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom ain whom is the spirit of the holy gods.4 In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him bchief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an cexcellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, dwhom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”
Overcoming the World
1 mEveryone who believes that nJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and oeveryone who ploves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the qchildren of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For rthis is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And shis commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God tovercomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by uthe water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who vtestifies, because the wSpirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, xthe testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God yhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has zmade him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is ain his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son bhas life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Jesus Heals Many
38 uAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would vnot allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the wChrist.
Jesus Preaches in Synagogues
42 xAnd when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must ypreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.1
