BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST.

gold, and make thee ruler in my
kingdom.”

Then Daniel stood up boldly, in
the middle of the wicked company,
and said, “I want not thy gifts; I
care not for rewards; but I will
read the writing unto the king, and
make known the interpretation. O
king Belshazzar, the great God gave
thy father Nebuchadnezzar a king-
dom, and much honor and power.
But when Nebuchadnezzar grew
proud of his glory, then God took
him down from his throne, and he
was driven among the beasts, till he
knew that God alone rules over the
kingdoms of the world. O Belshaz-
zar, thou knowest all this, but thou
hast not humbled thyself before
God. Thou hast rebelled against
Him, and brought out the vessels
of His temple, and drank wine in
them; and praised the gods of gold,
and silver, and brass, and iron, and
wood, and stone, which cannot see,
nor hear, nor know; but the great
God, who made all things, Him
thou hast not praised nor glorified.
And, therefore, He has sent the
hand to write upon the wall: and
now hear the writing, and the inter-
pretation.” Then Daniel read the
words written on the wall. They
were very few words; but they were
words full of wonderful and dreadful
meaning, What were they? “ Mene,
Mene, T’ekel, Peres, Upharsin.” Bel-
shazzar and his company looked in
wonder to Daniel, to tell them the
meaning of these words, for they
could not understand what was
read. Then Daniel said, “This is
‘the interpretation: Mene, God has

‘of judgment!

315

numbered thy kingdom, and fin-
ished it; Tekel, thou art weighed
in the balances, and found wanting ;
Perés, Upharsin, thy kingdom is di-
vided, and given to the Medes and
Persians.”

This was the dreadful interpreta-
tion. Was Belshazzar frightened ?
Did he put an end to the feast, and
send away his company, and fall
down humbly before God, and cry
for mercy? No; Belshazzar did
nothing of all this. He clothed
Daniel in scarlet, and gave him a
chain of gold, and commanded him
to be proclaimed ruler in the king-
dom; and then the feast went on,
and the company eat, and drank,
and talked, and laughed, and sang,
as they had done before. They
thought, all these dreadful things
which Daniel had spoken, would
not come upon them yet ;—perhaps
they might not come for a long
time; so they tried to forget them,
and to enjoy themselves. There
are many people now like that
wicked king and his company;
people who are rebellious, and dis-
obedient, and forgetfulof God. God
sends a message to these people.
They cannot read it upon the walls
of their houses, but they may read
it in God’s word. The Bible says
to them, “The wicked . shall be
turned into hell, and all the people
who forget God.” Psalm ix. 1%.
How fearful it will be for such peo-
ple to be cut off in their sins, and
to be “found wanting” in the day
tt Without pardon,
without hope, without mercy then!