Then Daniel answered before the King: "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the King, and make known the interpretation." Then Daniel went on to explain to the King that the God who lived in heaven had given Nebuchadnezzar a Kingdom and majesty: but when his heart was lifted up with pride, he was deposed from his throne, and he had to live with the wild beasts, till he knew that the most high God ruled in the Kingdom of men, and gave it to whomsoever He willed. And then Daniel went on to say that Belshazzar had not humbled his heart, but had lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven, and had even taken His holy vessels to be used at the feast, and had praised the gods of silver and gold "which see not, nor hear, nor know." And Daniel added these solemn words: "And the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified." Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN— "This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE—God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it." "TEKEL—thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting." "PERES—Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." Then Belshazzar commanded his servants to clothe Daniel in scarlet, and to put a chain round his neck, and make a proclamation that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. But in that very night, Belshazzar, the King of the Chaldeans, was slain, and Darius, the Mede, entered into the City and took the kingdom. That writing on the wall, written more than two thousand years ago, contains a living lesson to all of us to-day. It was God who sent that message to Belshazzar: "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting." For God judges every one's life. We read in the Revelation, "There shall in no wise enter into His presence, anything that defileth." But there is another Writing, not like the one on Belshazzar's Wall—and that is in a Book in heaven, which is called "The Lamb's Book of Life." Do you wonder what is written there? It is the name of each one who has come to "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Let each one of us ask God to wash away all our sins, and to write down our name in that Book of Life. That is the writing which will mean endless happiness and joy. [Illustration] XXXV. DANIEL IS A CAPTIVE THE people of Israel—the Jews—had so departed from serving and obeying God, that at length, in the reign of Jehoiakim, God allowed the King of Babylon to come up against Jerusalem with a great army and to besiege it, and eventually to take the city. He carried away not only Jehoiakim, the king, but afterwards Zedekiah (whom Nebuchadnezzar had set up in Jerusalem instead of Jehoiakim), and with him, he took all the nobles who were not killed in the siege, and every smith or craftsman who might be useful in Babylon.