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With flattery he will corrupt those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.
Daniel 11:32 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and take action.
  • KJV And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
  • NKJV Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
  • NASB And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.
  • NLT He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.

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

He corrupts covenant-breakers by flattery, but those who know their God remain strong and act faithfully. In times of pressure, true knowledge of God produces steadfast courage.

Overview

While some are seduced into apostasy, the faithful, historically those who resisted in the Maccabean revolt, stand firm and act boldly. The contrast is striking: flattery turns the compromising, but those who truly know God are made strong. This abiding promise assures persecuted believers that intimacy with God yields courage no tyrant can overcome, a strength fully ours in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • Ps 9:10Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
  • 1 Chr 28:9As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intent of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
  • Zech 10:12I will strengthen them in the LORD, and in His name they will walk,” declares the LORD.
  • John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
  • Mic 5:7–9Then the remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind.
  • 2 Tim 2:1–3You therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
  • 1 Jn 2:3–4By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
  • Zech 9:13–16For I will bend Judah as My bow and fit it with Ephraim. I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece. I will make you like the sword of a mighty man.
  • Zech 12:3–7On that day, when all the nations of the earth gather against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who would heave it away will be severely injured.
  • Zech 10:3–6“My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His royal steed in battle.
  • 1 Jn 5:20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true—in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
  • Jer 31:34No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
  • 2 Th 2:9–12The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
  • Heb 10:32–33Remember the early days that you were in the light. In those days, you endured a great conflict in the face of suffering.
  • Mal 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
  • Rev 13:12–15And this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast and caused the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed.
  • 2 Cor 4:3–6And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
  • Prov 26:28A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
  • Rev 7:9–10After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
  • Prov 19:5A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
  • Rev 12:7–11Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
  • Mic 7:15–17As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders.
  • Rev 6:11Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed.
  • Zech 14:1–4Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Daniel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Daniel 11:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on DanielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 11:32 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.