21 For the king of Babylon stops to use divination at the fork in the road, where the two roads branch off. He shakes the arrows. He consults his idols;* he examines the liver.

7 The king called out loudly to summon the conjurers, the Chal·deʹans,* and the astrologers.+ The king said to the wise men of Babylon: “Any man who reads this writing and tells me its interpretation will be clothed with purple, a gold necklace will be placed around his neck,+ and he will rule as the third one in the kingdom.”+

23 No light of a lamp will ever shine in you again, and no voice of a bridegroom and of a bride will ever be heard in you again; for your merchants were the top-ranking men of the earth, and by your spiritistic practices+ all the nations were misled.