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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
- 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 12:2Everyone lies to his neighbor. They speak with flattering lips, and with a double heart.
- Jer 9:3–5“They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they have grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh.
- Hab 2:3For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
- Dan 11:35Some of those who are wise shall fall, to refine them, and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for the time appointed.
- Prov 23:6–8Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies:
- Dan 11:40At the time of the end shall the king of the south contend with him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass through.
- Dan 8:19He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end.
- Ps 58:2No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
- Jer 41:1–3Now in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal offspring and one of the chief officers of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they ate bread together in Mizpah.
- Prov 26:23Like silver dross on an earthen vessel are the lips of a fervent one with an evil heart.
- Prov 12:20Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.
- Ps 64:6They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!” Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
- Ps 52:1For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to Ahimelech’s house.” Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man? God’s loving kindness endures continually.
- Dan 11:29At the time appointed he shall return, and come into the south; but it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former.
- Acts 17:31because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”
- Acts 1:7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
- 1 Th 5:1But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that anything be written to you.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
- Prov 19:21There are many plans in a man’s heart, but Yahweh’s counsel will prevail.
- 2 Sam 13:26Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon go with us.” The king said to him, “Why should he go with you?”
- Dan 10:1In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, even a great warfare: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
- Ezek 17:9“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will it prosper? Won’t he pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? Not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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
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.