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Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
Daniel 5:1 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
  • BSB Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.
  • NKJV Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.
  • NASB Belshazzar the king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he was drinking wine in the presence of the thousand.
  • NLT Many years later King Belshazzar gave a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles, and he drank wine with them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Belshazzar holds a great feast for a thousand of his lords. The scene of reckless revelry opens the night of Babylon's fall.

Overview

Years after Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar rules a Babylon now under threat, yet he feasts in arrogant security. His lavish banquet contrasts sharply with the danger at the city gates. The careless indulgence sets the stage for a sudden judgment that will repeat, far more severely, the lesson Nebuchadnezzar learned about pride before God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Esth 1:3In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
  • Mark 6:21–22And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;
  • Jer 51:57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
  • Jer 51:39In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
  • Isa 21:4–5My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
  • Isa 22:12And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
  • Isa 22:14And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
  • Gen 40:20And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
  • Nah 1:10For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 5:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.

How Daniel 5:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.