In vain the king tried to read the burning letters. But here was a secret he could not fathom, a power he could neither understand nor gainsay. In despair he turned to the wise men of his realm for help. His wild cry rang out in the assembly, calling upon the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers to read the writing. "Whosoever shall read this writing," he promised, "and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom." But of no avail was his appeal to his trusted advisers, with offers of rich awards. Heavenly wisdom cannot be bought or sold. "All the king's wise men . . . could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof." They were no more able to read the mysterious characters than had been the wise men of a former generation to interpret the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar.

Kongen søgte forgæves at læse indskriften, men her stod han over for en hemmelighed, som han ikke kunne fatte, og en magt, som han ikke forstod og ikke kunne modsige. I sin fortvivlelse henvendte han sig til rigets vise mænd for at få hjælp. Kongen råbte ophidset ud over forsamlingen og forlangte, at manerne, kaldæerne og stjernetyderne skulle læse skriften. "Enhver, som kan læse denne skrift og tyde mig den," sagde han, "skal klædes i purpur, guldkæden skal hænges om hans hals, og han skal være den tredje mægtigste i riget." Men det var forgæves, at han henvendte sig til sine betroede rådgivere og lovede dem rige gaver. Himmelsk visdom kan hverken købes eller sælges. "Alle Babels vismænd ..... evnede hverken at læse skriften eller tyde den for kongen." De stod lige så uforstående over for de hemmelighedsfulde bogstaver, som vismændene i et tidligere slægtled havde stået over for Nebukadnezars drømme.