parse error on install with 2.1.2 and 2.1.3

I want to install 2.1.2, as I have in the past, on my webserver, but it’s just not letting me. I’ve tried using different FTP programs to upload the files, created new databases, checked my server’s php and sql versions, and nothing seems to be wrong on my end. I edited the config file correctly, as I’ve done before, but I just keep getting the following error no matter what I try:

Parse error: parse error, unexpected $ in /homepages/19/d125809431/htdocs/blog2/wp-settings.php on line 245

lines 244 through 247 are as follows:

$locale = get_locale();
$locale_file = ABSPATH . LANGDIR . “/$locale.php”;
if ( is_readable($locale_file) )
require_once($locale_file);