Gen 43:34, Ecc 2:1-2, 7:2-6, Dan 5:1-12, 1Pe 4:3 | ESV | STEP | Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him.

34 ^aPortions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was ^bfive times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry ^{▼▼Hebrew and became intoxicated} with him.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-2

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

1 I ^dsaid in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath”; also verses 11, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 26 (see note on 1:2)} 2 I ^fsaid of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

Ecclesiastes 7:2-6

2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will ^glay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
^hfor by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
5 It is ⁱbetter for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 ^jFor as the crackling of ^kthorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity. ^{▼▼The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (see note on 1:2)}

Daniel 5:1-12

The Handwriting on the Wall

1 ^mKing Belshazzar ⁿmade a great feast for a thousand of his ^olords and drank wine in front of the thousand.

2 ^pBelshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that ^qthe vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father ^{▼▼Or predecessor; also verses 11, 13, 18} had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in ^sthe golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and ^tpraised the ^ugods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.

5 ^vImmediately ^wthe fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw ^xthe hand as it wrote. 6 ^yThen the king’s color changed, ^zand his thoughts alarmed him; ^aahis limbs gave way, and ^abhis knees knocked together. 7 ^acThe king called loudly to bring in ^adthe enchanters, the ^aeChaldeans, and ^afthe astrologers. The king declared ^{▼▼Aramaic answered and said; also verse 10} to the wise men of Babylon, ^ah“Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and ^aishall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but ^ajthey could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly ^akalarmed, and his ^alcolor changed, and his ^amlords were perplexed.

10 The queen, ^{▼▼Or queen mother; twice in this verse} because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, ^ao“O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you ^apor your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom ^aqin whom is the spirit of the holy gods. ^{▼▼Or Spirit of the holy God} In the days of your father, ^aslight and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king— ^atmade him chief of the magicians, ^auenchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 ^avbecause an excellent spirit, knowledge, and ^awunderstanding ^axto interpret dreams, explain riddles, and ^aysolve problems were found in this Daniel, ^azwhom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

1 Peter 4:3

3 For the time that is past ^basuffices ^bbfor doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.