Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his face was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed.
- BSB Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were bewildered.
- NKJV Then King Belshazzar was greatly troubled, his countenance was changed, and his lords were astonished.
- NASB Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, his face grew even more pale, and his nobles were perplexed.
- NLT So the king grew even more alarmed, and his face turned pale. His nobles, too, were shaken.
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 grows even more terrified and his nobles are bewildered. The unsolved sign deepens the dread hanging over the feast.
Overview
With no one able to interpret the message, the king's alarm intensifies and his court is left in confusion. The festive atmosphere has wholly given way to fear, underscoring the weight of God's word even when its meaning is still hidden. The scene leaves the powerful of Babylon paralyzed, awaiting a word they cannot supply for themselves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Dan 5:6Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
- Dan 2:1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
- Jer 6:24We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
- Isa 21:2–4A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
- Isa 13:6–8Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
- Ps 18:14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
- Dan 10:8Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
- Job 18:11–14Terrors shall make him afraid on every side, and shall drive him to his feet.
- Ps 48:6Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
- Jer 30:6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
- Matt 2:3When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
- Rev 6:15And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
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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 5:9 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.
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