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Daniel & The Writing on The Wall · The Chosen People

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People... The tree, great king, is you.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: What?
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: Don't act surprised. Fanged ignorance is unbecoming of you.
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  Speaker 2: Then my fate is that of the tree to be
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  Speaker 2: stripped away?
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  Speaker 3: Your greatness has grown. It reaches the heavens and your
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  Speaker 3: dominion to the end of the earth.
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  Speaker 2: As is my destiny! I am the king of Babylon.
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  Speaker 3: You are too great in your own eyes and in
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  Speaker 3: the eyes of men.
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  Speaker 2: Who else matters?
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  Speaker 3: The Lord matters, and he has seen you for what
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  Speaker 3: you are.
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  Speaker 4: And what am I?
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  Speaker 5: A beast.
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  Speaker 2: What is happening?
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  Speaker 1: He tore the robe from his body. He belonged more
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  Speaker 1: to the beasts than to men.
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  Speaker 3: Nebuchadnezzar, your sentence is almost served. The God who judged
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  Speaker 3: you is also the God who restores. Lift your eyes
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  Speaker 3: to heaven.
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  Speaker 4: O king.
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  Speaker 1: The beast king, crawling on all fours, stood on his
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  Speaker 1: hind legs and turned his cheek toward the sunlight peeking
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  Speaker 1: through the clouds.
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  Speaker 2: Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, Praise and extol and honor the king
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  Speaker 2: of heaven, for all his works are right and his
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  Speaker 2: ways just. And those who walk in pride, he is
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  Speaker 2: able to humble.
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  Speaker 1: The palace reeked of wine and sweat. Music swelled from
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  Speaker 1: the banquet hall, not in elegant courtly strains, but in
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  Speaker 1: a pounding, frenzied beat meant to drive the blood faster.
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  Speaker 1: The air was moist with a heavy incense, cloying and
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  Speaker 1: meant to mask the scent of too many bodies pressed together.
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  Speaker 1: silks were strewn across the floor, goblets overturned, roasted meats
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  Speaker 1: torn apart and left half-eaten where they fell. On the
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  Speaker 1: central dais, sprawled across cushions, King Belshazzar held court like
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  Speaker 1: a man determined to defecate on his father's legacy. He
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  Speaker 1: raised his cup, belched and laughed.
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  Speaker 5: More wine!
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  Speaker 4: If the Persians are camped at our gates, let them
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  Speaker 4: hear our laughter over their war drums!
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  Speaker 1: The guests roared approval. He leaned in toward a pair
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  Speaker 1: of young women reclining beside him, whispering something that made
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  Speaker 1: them cover their mouths and giggle. Their bracelets clinked as
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  Speaker 1: they draped themselves over his shoulders. Belshazzar's gaze swept the hall.
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  Speaker 1: He gestured to them all. The satraps with their perfumed beards.
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  Speaker 1: The generals who laughed a little too hard at his jokes.
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  Speaker 1: The priests of Marduk, fat with his father's gold.
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  Speaker 4: Let us.
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  Speaker 4: To my late father, the great and feared Nebuchadnezzar. Excuse me.
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  Speaker 4: May he rest in the arms of, well, whatever god
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  Speaker 4: he happened to be groveling before at the time.
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  Speaker 1: King Belshazzar was nothing like his father. He was indulgent,
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  Speaker 1: out of control, and too spoiled to see how fragile
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  Speaker 1: his fortunes were. Even with the threat of Persia and
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  Speaker 1: King Darius howling from the north, King Belshazzar wouldn't cease
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  Speaker 1: his dancing. He drowned every conviction and sense of duty
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  Speaker 1: to his country with another gulp of wine. He forced
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  Speaker 1: a servant girl onto his lap and played with her hair.
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  Speaker 1: Ignorant to the look of disgust on her face.
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  Speaker 4: You know, my father paid homage to a foreign god
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  Speaker 4: right before he died.
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  Speaker 2: The same god that damned him to the forest.
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  Speaker 3: Can you believe that?
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  Speaker 2: You know what? I think we.
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  Speaker 4: Still have some chalices and other fine treasures from that
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  Speaker 4: god's temple. Shall we have a look-see? Oh.
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  Speaker 4: Bring me the treasures my father sent from Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 1: A ripple passed through the hall, part thrill, part unease.
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  Speaker 1: Servants exchanged glances, hesitating, until his voice cracked like a whip.
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  Speaker 2: Now!
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  Speaker 1: They went, and soon returned bearing gold and silver vessels,
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  Speaker 1: the sacred cups taken by Nebuchadnezzar from the temple of
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  Speaker 1: Yahweh decades before. Their surfaces gleamed, chased with Hebrew inscriptions.
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar seized one, turning it in his hands as though
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  Speaker 1: examining an exotic toy.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, look at the work.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so fine. It's fit for a god.
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  Speaker 3: Well, tonight that god will serve me.
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  Speaker 1: He poured wine into the cup until it spilled over,
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  Speaker 1: running down his arms, staining the hem of his robe.
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  Speaker 1: Then he raised it high.
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  Speaker 5: To Bel! To Marduk!
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  Speaker 2: To Ishtar!
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  Speaker 4: To the gods who feast and take their fill!
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  Speaker 2: Not the ones who hide in scrolls and scold kings!
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  Speaker 3: Ha ha ha!
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  Speaker 1: Laughter, cheers. Guests snatched the temple vessels from the servants' hands,
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  Speaker 1: slopped wine into them, and passed them from mouth to mouth.
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  Speaker 1: The gold, once used for sacrifice, now caught the sheen
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  Speaker 1: of grease from roasted meat and the glisten of wine-wet lips.
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  Speaker 1: A naked priestess rose from the crowd, swaying to the music.
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  Speaker 1: She took a gulp from one of the cups and
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  Speaker 1: let the wine run down her chest. dripping to the
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  Speaker 1: marble floor. The crowd howled. Belshazzar reclined deeper into his cushions, satisfied,
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  Speaker 1: until he noticed the torches. The flames were shrinking. No,
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  Speaker 1: not shrinking.
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  Speaker 5: Bleeding.
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  Speaker 1: As though heavy, the fire began to fall onto the floor.
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  Speaker 1: The red flames slid across the great hall until they
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  Speaker 1: arrived at a singular bare wall. The laughter faltered. Then,
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  Speaker 1: all went dark. Belshazzar pushed himself up, his eyes narrowing
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  Speaker 1: toward the wall. Something was emerging out of the dark,
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  Speaker 1: cold wall.
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  Speaker 2: A hand.
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  Speaker 1: Pale, sharp, ghastly. It had no body, just the hand.
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  Speaker 1: Long fingers, the skin unnaturally smooth, the movement slowly and
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  Speaker 1: deliberately moving. The first fingertip touched the plaster. Black lines
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  Speaker 1: bloomed under it, each stroke burning like hot iron into
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  Speaker 1: the wall. The musicians stopped. The priestess froze mid-step.
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  Speaker 2: What is happening?
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  Speaker 1: The hand was writing something. The letters formed in a
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  Speaker 1: language he did not know. Yet something in them felt
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  Speaker 1: like a verdict. The had finished. Lingered as though savouring
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  Speaker 1: the silence.
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  Speaker 2: Gone.
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  Speaker 1: Only the words remained. Glowing faintly.
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  Speaker 2: Mene.
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  Speaker 3: Mene.
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  Speaker 2: Mene.
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  Speaker 4: Mene.
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  Speaker 2: Mene.
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  Speaker 1: The silence in the banquet hall was suffocating. The guests
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  Speaker 1: stared at the blackened words on the plaster as if
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  Speaker 1: expecting them to shift under their gaze. Belshazzar stood rigid,
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  Speaker 1: gripping the edge of the dais, his knuckles white against
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  Speaker 1: the gold.
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  Speaker 4: Whoever can tell me what this means, shall we clothe
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  Speaker 4: them purple? Yes, I'll make them important. I'll give them
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  Speaker 4: a gold chain around his neck and make him a
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  Speaker 4: third ruler in this kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: That declaration was like a steaming pile of dung to
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  Speaker 1: the flies of Babylon. Slimy politicians all brought their own
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  Speaker 1: personal sorcerers. Priests and priestesses of Bel, Marduk and Ishtar
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  Speaker 1: did incantations and dances before the writing. But to no avail.
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  Speaker 1: None could interpret the strange carvings. All the while, King
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar was growing more pale with anxiety. All the colour
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  Speaker 1: had drained from his face, and as the night drew on,
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  Speaker 1: he became like a ghost of anxiety and fear. Then
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  Speaker 1: came the sound of sandals echoing from the corridor beyond
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  Speaker 1: the great doors. The Queen Mother entered without ceremony, her
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  Speaker 1: attendants trailing behind like shadows. She did not rush, she
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  Speaker 1: did not bow. The music had stopped, but her eyes
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  Speaker 1: swept the hall as though she was surveying the aftermath
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  Speaker 1: of a battlefield. Goblets overturned, grease smeared on sacred vessels,
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  Speaker 1: half-dressed revelers clinging to cushions. Her lip curled into a snarl.
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  Speaker 1: What have you done? Belshazzar straightened, trying to pull his
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  Speaker 1: robe over his bare chest.
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  Speaker 4: Mother!
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  Speaker 2: Mother!
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  Speaker 5: Do not call me that here. Speaking to me like
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  Speaker 5: a toddler when you sit on your father's throne. I
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  Speaker 5: swear you have no idea how to rule.
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  Speaker 1: Her gaze moved to the gold vessels in the guest's
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  Speaker 1: hands and then to the wall where the writing glowed faintly.
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  Speaker 5: He stood beside your father when he commanded armies and
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  Speaker 5: built this entire empire from the bones of nations.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, of course.
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  Speaker 4: Father was grand. He was a monolith in his own right,
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  Speaker 4: I know.
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  Speaker 5: Do you now? If you know, then you certainly don't
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  Speaker 5: show it. Your father knew how to rule, but he
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  Speaker 5: also knew when to yield. I saw him kneel when
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  Speaker 5: the God of Israel tore his mind from him and
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  Speaker 5: made him crawl like a beast. And you, you think
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  Speaker 5: you can mock that God and escape judgment? Foolish boy.
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar opened his mouth, but she cut him off with
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  Speaker 1: a raised hand.
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  Speaker 5: Look at you, drunk, when the Persians prepare their battering
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  Speaker 5: rams on the yards away from our gates. You shame
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  Speaker 5: this throne. You shame the house of your father.
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  Speaker 1: Her voice was carrying now, slicing through the air. The
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  Speaker 1: guests lowered their eyes.
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  Speaker 5: And look at this!
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  Speaker 1: She gestured to the chalices of the Lord's temple, the
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  Speaker 1: ones he defiled moments before the hand appeared.
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  Speaker 5: You dare to drink from the vessels of the God
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  Speaker 5: who humbled the greatest king this world has ever known?
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  Speaker 5: You are a child-playing king. No wonder Persia is going
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  Speaker 5: to sack this place and place your head on a pike.
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  Speaker 2: Now that's enough!
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  Speaker 3: I'm king, and you'll mind how you speak to me!
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  Speaker 5: Or what? You'll imprison me? I'll be better off there
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  Speaker 5: than being dragged out of my chambers by King Darius.
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar's throat strained to answer, but nothing came out. The
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  Speaker 1: Queen Mother took a step closer to the dais, her
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  Speaker 1: shadow falling over him. She locked eyes with her son,
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  Speaker 1: then pointed to the words behind her.
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  Speaker 5: You want answers to this ghastly warning written in stone?
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  Speaker 5: Don't look at these fools in your court. A third
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  Speaker 5: of them are as drunk as you are. The other
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  Speaker 5: two-thirds are either scared of you or hoping you'll make
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  Speaker 5: them rich. They won't tell you the truth.
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  Speaker 4: And who shall I call upon?
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  Speaker 1: There is a.
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  Speaker 5: Man, an exile from Judah. Your father called for him
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  Speaker 5: when his own gods were silent. He told your father
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  Speaker 5: things no magus, no diviner, no priest dared to speak.
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  Speaker 5: He walks with a spirit not of this world.
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  Speaker 1: She glanced at the wall again, then back at her son.
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  Speaker 5: If there is a man alive who can tell you
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  Speaker 5: what those words mean, it is Daniel of Judah. Your
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  Speaker 5: father named him Belshazzar. He saw Daniel as a shield
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  Speaker 5: from the wrath of the god you've angered. And if
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  Speaker 5: you have any hope, any hope, you will send for him.
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar swallowed hard. his eyes darting from the Queen Mother
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  Speaker 1: to the writing, then to the silent, watchful guests.
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  Speaker 4: Bring him.
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  Speaker 1: The Queen Mother stepped back, her expression unreadable, and turned
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  Speaker 1: on her heel to leave.
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  Speaker 5: I won't be around to greet him. I have a
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  Speaker 5: carriage awaiting me to take me to the farmlands. Best
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  Speaker 5: of luck with the Persians.
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  Speaker 1: The closer Daniel walked toward the King's Hall, the more
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  Speaker 1: the air changed. Gone was the cool, dry stillness of
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  Speaker 1: the archives. Here, the corridors reeked of wine, sweat, and
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  Speaker 1: the cloying, disgusting ripeness of debauchery. Two guards swung the
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  Speaker 1: bronze-plated doors wide. Daniel stepped in. The smell hit first.
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  Speaker 1: a heady, sour blend of spilled drink and overripe fruit.
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  Speaker 1: Then the sight. The once gleaming hall was littered with
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  Speaker 1: overturned cups and broken platters. Draped on couches and leaning
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  Speaker 1: against pillars, the king's companions, princes, concubines, satraps, stared wide-eyed
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  Speaker 1: at the far wall, their faces pale and slack. At
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  Speaker 1: the centre... Half slumped on his throne was Belshazzar. His
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  Speaker 1: crown sat crooked, his tunic half loosened, his eyes wide
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  Speaker 1: and glassy with terror. He was staring at the wall
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  Speaker 1: opposite him, staring at the words, Mene, mene, tekel ufarsin.
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  Speaker 1: They blazed faintly as though written in fresh lamp oil.
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  Speaker 1: Each letter scored deep into the stone. Daniel took in
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  Speaker 1: the scene slowly, his gaze resting briefly on the golden
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  Speaker 1: vessels strewn across the floor, the sacred vessels from the
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  Speaker 1: temple in Jerusalem, now stained with Babylonian wine offered to idols.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel felt a slow, cold anger beneath his ribs, and yet,
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  Speaker 1: when his eyes came back to Belshazzar, pity surfaced. The
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  Speaker 1: king's lips worked soundlessly for a moment before his voice
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  Speaker 1: broke free, hoarse and ragged.
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  Speaker 3: You're the one they call Belteshazzar?
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: Daniel?
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  Speaker 1: One of the exiles?
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  Speaker 4: I've heard the spirit of the gods is in you.
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  Speaker 5: Tell me you can give interpretations, solve mysteries?
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  Speaker 2: I can.
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  Speaker 1: I can.
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  Speaker 3: But tell me, great king, why do these words disturb
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  Speaker 3: you so? What are a few runes to the man
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: who owns the world?
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar swallowed hard, his eyes flicking toward the glowing letters.
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  Speaker 4: Because, because there was a hand, a hand of a
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  Speaker 4: ghost who was here. It wrote those words right before
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  Speaker 4: my eyes.
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  Speaker 5: I can't read it. None of my magi, none of
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  Speaker 5: the encharters, no one could.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel's gaze drifted again to the wall, then back to
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  Speaker 1: the king. He stepped forward slowly until they were close
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  Speaker 1: enough to speak without the whole court hearing.
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  Speaker 3: Great king, the most high god gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty, greatness, glory,
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  Speaker 3: and splendor. All nations trembled before him, but when his
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: heart grew proud, He was brought low. He lived with
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: the wild donkeys until he acknowledged that the Most High
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: rules over the kingdoms of men.
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar's jaw worked. Daniel could tell he was expecting a rebuke.
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  Speaker 1: But Daniel saw the scared boy underneath the crown and
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: fine robes.
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  Speaker 3: You knew all this about your father and the god
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: that I serve, and yet you still did this?
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Why? I.
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  Speaker 5: I.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: The Persians knock at our door.
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  Speaker 4: I feel powerless. And your God, he defeated my father.
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  Speaker 1: The king looked away, but Daniel leaned in just slightly,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: his tone almost fatherly now.
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  Speaker 3: And you thought you would grasp at power by shaming
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  Speaker 3: the God who shamed your fathers?
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Belshazzar's breathing was shallow. He gestured to the wall.
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  Speaker 5: Tell me, Daniel.
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  Speaker 4: Tell me what the words say.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel turned to the wall, the glowing words casting faint
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: shadows across his lined face. He read them aloud, each
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: syllable crisp as a chisel's strike.
• 19:44
  Speaker 3: Babylon burns so much of our scrolls. The true wisdom
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: is found in the heart of our God. It cannot
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: be consumed by flame. Your father learned that the hard way.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Daniel pressed his palm against the wall and traced his
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: fingers against the carvings. He expected them to be hot
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  Speaker 1: to the touch, but instead they were ice cold.
• 20:09
  Speaker 5: Many.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it.
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  Speaker 1: To an end. The first hammer struck Belshazzar's chest.
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: Tekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel sighed, lingering on the last word.
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  Speaker 3: Heras, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: and Persians.
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  Speaker 1: The final word hung in the air like a drawn blade.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Belshazzar's mouth opened, but no sound came. His eyes darted
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: to the letters, then to Daniel's face, as if searching
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: for some reprieve. But Daniel's gaze held steady, not in cruelty,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: but in the sorrow of a man who knows the
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: sentence is already passed. Somewhere, far off, A faint tremor
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: passed through the floor. It could have been the tread
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: of soldiers, or the shifting of walls, or the first
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: distant rumble of an empire's fall.