So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision. No strength remained in me; my face grew deathly pale, and I was powerless.
Parallel translations
- WEB So I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
- KJV Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
- NKJV Therefore I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength.
- NASB So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength.
- NLT So I was left there all alone to see this amazing vision. My strength left me, my face grew deathly pale, and I felt very weak.
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
Left alone, Daniel is drained of all strength, his face turned pale by the glory before him. Encountering God's holiness exposes human frailty.
Overview
Like Isaiah crying 'Woe is me' before the throne, Daniel collapses under the weight of heavenly glory. The vision strips away every trace of his own vigor and dignity. This is the consistent biblical pattern: those who truly meet God are undone by His holiness, and only His grace can restore them, as the following verses show.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Dan 7:28Thus ends the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts troubled me greatly, and my face turned pale. But I kept the matter to myself.”
- Hab 3:16I heard and trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones; I trembled where I stood. Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress to come upon the people who invade us.
- Dan 8:27I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for days. Then I got up and went about the king’s business. I was confounded by the vision; it was beyond understanding.
- Mark 9:6For they were all so terrified that Peter did not know what else to say.
- Rev 1:17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
- Matt 17:6When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.
- Dan 8:7I saw him approach the ram in a rage against him, and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against him, and the goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and no one could deliver the ram from his power.
- 2 Cor 12:7or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- Gen 32:31The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
- Gen 32:24–25So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
- 2 Cor 12:2–3I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows.
- John 16:32“Look, an hour is coming and has already come when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and you will leave Me all alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
- Exod 3:3So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Daniel sees the stone cut without hands that shatters the kingdoms, and 'one like a son of man' given everlasting dominion — titles and visions Jesus claims as his own.
How Daniel 10:8 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.