And the two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will speak lies at the same table, but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.
Parallel translations
- WEB As for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table: but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
- KJV And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
- NKJV Both these kings’ hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
- NASB As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, because the end is still to come at the appointed time.
- NLT Seeking nothing but each other’s harm, these kings will plot against each other at the conference table, attempting to deceive each other. But it will make no difference, for the end will come at the appointed time.
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
Both kings sit at one table speaking lies, but their scheming fails because the end will come at the appointed time. Human deceit cannot alter God's set plan.
Overview
The two kings feign friendship while plotting against each other, yet neither prospers. The key phrase, 'the end shall be at the time appointed,' reveals that history moves toward a goal fixed by God, not by the will of scheming rulers. This assurance of a divinely appointed time runs through the chapter and anchors the believer's hope amid turmoil.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Ps 12:2They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Jer 9:3–5“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Hab 2:3For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.
- Dan 11:35Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
- Prov 23:6–8Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
- Dan 11:40At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots, horsemen, and many ships, invading many countries and sweeping through them like a flood.
- Dan 8:19and said, “Behold, I will make known to you what will happen in the latter time of wrath, because it concerns the appointed time of the end.
- Ps 58:2No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
- Jer 41:1–3In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate a meal together there.
- Prov 26:23Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.
- Prov 12:20Deceit is in the hearts of those who devise evil, but the counselors of peace have joy.
- Ps 64:6They devise injustice and say, “We have perfected a secret plan.” For the inner man and the heart are mysterious.
- Ps 52:1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
- Dan 11:29At the appointed time he will invade the South again, but this time will not be like the first.
- Acts 17:31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
- Acts 1:7Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.
- 1 Th 5:1Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.
- Ps 62:9Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
- Prov 19:21Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- 2 Sam 13:26“If not,” said Absalom, “please let my brother Amnon go with us.” “Why should he go with you?” the king asked.
- Dan 10:1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was called Belteshazzar. The message was true, and it concerned a great conflict. And the understanding of the message was given to him in a vision.
- Ezek 17:9So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Will it flourish? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it shrivels? All its foliage will wither! It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by its roots.
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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 11:27 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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