Belshazzar's feast
![John Martin, Belshazzar's Feast, c.1821; half-size sketch held by the Yale Center for British Art](/Images/godic/202501/26/Belshazzar's_Feast_Martin4948.jpg")
![Rembrandt, Belshazzar's Feast, 1635, (National Gallery, London). The message is written in vertical lines starting at the top right corner, with](/Images/godic/202501/26/Rembrandt-Belsazar4948.jpg")
![Cyrus the Great liberating the Jews from the Babylonian captivity.](/Images/godic/202501/26/Cyrus_II_le_Grand_et_les_Hébreux4949.jpg")
![In The Hand-Writing upon the Wall (1803), James Gillray caricatured Napoleon in the role of Belshazzar.](/Images/godic/202501/26/Hand-Writing-upon-the-Wall-Gillray4949.jpeg")
Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel) tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the temple vessels. A hand appears and writes on the wall. The terrified Belshazzar calls for his wise men, but they are unable to read the writing. The queen advises him to send for Daniel, renowned for his wisdom. Daniel reminds Belshazzar that his father Nebuchadnezzar, when he became arrogant, was thrown down until he learned that God has sovereignty over the kingdom of men. Belshazzar had likewise blasphemed God, and so God sent this hand. Daniel then reads the message and interprets it: God has numbered Belshazzar's days, he has been weighed and found wanting, and his kingdom will be given to the Medes and the Persians.