Daniel 5:4

Sin

² Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

³ Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

⁵ At that moment the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. As the king watched the hand that was writing,

⁶ his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: As they drank the wine, they praised their gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
KJV: They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
WEB: They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of bronze, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
ASV: They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
DARBY: They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
BLB: They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

ÅB: De drakk vin og priste sine guder av gull og sølv, av kobber, jern, tre og stein.
OTB: Mens de drakk vinen, priste de gudene av gull og sølv, av bronse, jern, tre og stein.
B1930: De drakk vin og priste sine guder av gull og sølv, av kobber, jern, tre og sten.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Daniel 5:23
Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.
Read in context
Habakkuk 2:19
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
Read in context
Psalms 135:15–18
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Read in context
Revelation 9:20–21
Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.
Read in context
Psalms 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
Read in context
Isaiah 40:19–20
To an idol that a craftsman casts and a metalworker overlays with gold and fits with silver chains?
Read in context
Jeremiah 10:4–9
They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
Read in context
Acts 17:29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
Read in context