Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But if you will go, take action, and be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow.”
- KJV But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.
- NKJV But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.”
- NASB But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has the power to help and to bring down.”
- NLT If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The prophet declared that even bold action would fail without God, for He has power to help or to overthrow. Victory and defeat alike rest in God's hands.
Overview
The man of God presses the point that human effort apart from the LORD invites defeat. God's sovereignty over the outcome of battle is absolute, able to help or to cast down. This summons Amaziah, and every reader, to trust in God's power rather than in human strategy or strength.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- 2 Chr 14:11Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God: “O LORD, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal prevail against You.”
- 2 Chr 20:6and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You.
- Phil 4:19And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
- Luke 18:29–30“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God
- Ps 20:7Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Job 9:13God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
- Deut 8:18But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.
- 1 Sam 14:6Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
- Prov 10:22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.
- Ps 33:16No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Ps 24:1A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- 2 Chr 18:14When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up and triumph,” Micaiah replied, “for they will be given into your hand.”
- Joel 3:9–14Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- Judg 7:7Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
- Ps 33:10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
- Isa 8:9–10Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
- Job 5:18For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
- 2 Chr 1:12therefore wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will also give you riches and wealth and honor unlike anything given to the kings before you or after you.”
- Eccl 9:11I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
- Hag 2:8The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Ps 62:11God has spoken once; I have heard this twice: that power belongs to God,
- Matt 26:45Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.
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Christ at the center
Temple, priesthood, and the repeated need for a faithful king who seeks the LORD all point past every imperfect reign to the King and Temple who finally and fully dwell with God's people.
How 2 Chronicles 25:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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