In Daniel 5, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin" is the writing on the wall that Daniel interprets as God's judgment on Belshazzar's kingdom. Daniel explains: Mene means God has numbered the kingdom and ended it; Tekel means the king has been weighed and found lacking; Peres means the kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:25-28).
The words appear during Belshazzar's feast, after sacred vessels from Jerusalem's temple have been used in a scene of royal pride. Daniel's interpretation is not a puzzle for entertainment; it is a verdict. The king's rule has been measured before God.
The ending is immediate. Belshazzar honors Daniel after the interpretation, but the text says that very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed, and Darius the Mede received the kingdom (Daniel 5:29-31).
The phrase is often used today to mean a vague warning sign. In Daniel, it is more specific: God is judging arrogant power that has failed the moral weight placed upon it. The message is not fate or superstition; it is divine accountability.
Daniel 5 shows that empires are not ultimate. Royal splendor may look unchallengeable, but the kingdom is still numbered, weighed, and answerable to God.
25This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
26This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end;
27TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.
28PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
29Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.
31Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.