The Handwriting on the Wall

1 ^eKing Belshazzar ^fmade a great feast for a thousand of his ^glords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2 ^eBelshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that ^hthe vessels 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 ^hthe 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 ⁱpraised the ^jgods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 ^kImmediately ^lthe 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 ^mthe hand as it wrote. 6 ⁿThen the king’s color changed, ^oand his thoughts alarmed him; ^phis limbs gave way, and ^qhis knees knocked together. 7 ^rThe king called loudly to bring in ^rthe enchanters, the ^sChaldeans, and ^tthe astrologers. The king declared² to the wise men of Babylon, ^u“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and ^vshall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ^wthey could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^xalarmed, and his ⁿcolor changed, and his ^ylords 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, ^z“O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you ^aor your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom ^bin whom is the spirit of the holy gods.⁴ In the days of your father, ^clight and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—^dmade him chief of the magicians, ^renchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 ^ebecause an excellent spirit, knowledge, and ^funderstanding ^fto interpret dreams, explain riddles, and ^gsolve problems were found in this Daniel, ^hwhom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

The Handwriting on the Wall

1 ^eKing Belshazzar ^fmade a great feast for a thousand of his ^glords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

1 After this there was a ^ofeast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by ^pthe Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic¹ called Bethesda,² which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and ^qparalyzed.³ 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, ^r“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 ^rAnd at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

^sNow that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews⁴ said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and ^tit is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”

Jesus Heals Many

38 ^gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now ^hSimon’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 ⁱrebuked 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 ^jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 ^kAnd demons also came out of many, ^lcrying, “You are ^mthe Son of God!” But he rebuked them and ^kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was ⁿthe Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

42 ^oAnd when it was day, he departed and went ^pinto a desolate place. And ^qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, ^r“I must ^spreach 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 ^tin the synagogues of Judea.¹