His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
Parallel translations
- WEB His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper in what he does; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people.
- KJV And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
- BSB His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people.
- NASB “And his power will be mighty, but not by his own power, And he will destroy to an extraordinary degree And be successful and do as he pleases; He will destroy mighty men and the holy people.
- NLT He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people.
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
This king grows mighty, though not by his own power, and destroys remarkably, including the holy people. His success is fearsome yet ultimately under God's permission.
Overview
The fierce king's strength, explicitly not from himself, points to a power granted or permitted from beyond, and he devastates even God's holy people. The qualification but not by his own power keeps God's sovereignty in view over the persecutor's might. The targeting of the saints recalls the perennial conflict between worldly power and God's people, resolved only by divine judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Dan 8:12The army was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and prospered.
- Rev 17:17For God has put in their hearts to do what he has in mind, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be accomplished.
- Rev 13:3–10One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast.
- Dan 11:31–36Forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
- Dan 7:25He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
- Dan 12:7I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have finished breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
- Rev 19:2for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”
- Dan 8:10It grew great, even to the army of the sky; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them.
- Rev 17:12–13The ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour.
- Rev 17:6I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered with great amazement.
- Rev 16:6For they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”
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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 8:24 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.