With reason dethroned through shameless intoxication, and with lower impulses and passions now in the ascendancy, the king himself took the lead in the riotous orgy. As the feast progressed, he "commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which . . . Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of 524 the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein." The king would prove that nothing was too sacred for his hands to handle. "They brought the golden vessels; . . . and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone."

Kongen drak sig fra sans og samling, og da de lavere instinkter havde taget magten, førte han selv an i det vilde orgie. Under festen "lod han de guldkar og sølvkar hente, som ..... Nebukadnezar havde ført bort fra helligdommen i Jerusalem, for at kongen og hans stormænd, hans hustruer og medhustruer kunne drikke af dem". Kongen ville bevise, at intet var så helligt, at han ikke kunne røre ved det. "Man hentede da guld og sølvkarrene, ..... og kongen og hans stormænd, hans hustruer og medhustruer drak af dem; og mens de drak vin, priste de deres guder af guld, sølv, kobber, jern, træ og sten "