Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take counsel together, and it will be brought to nothing; speak the word, and it will not stand: for God is with us.”
- BSB Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; state a proposal, but it will not happen. For God is with us.”
- NKJV Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing; Speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us.”
- NASB “Devise a plan, but it will fail; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.”
- NLT Call your councils of war, but they will be worthless. Develop your strategies, but they will not succeed. For God is with us!”
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
Every plan against God's people will fail, because "God is with us" (Immanuel).
Overview
Schemes and decrees aimed at God's people will come to nothing, for the Lord himself stands with them. The closing phrase "God is with us" echoes the name Immanuel, grounding security not in armies but in God's presence. This is the gospel hope: with God on our side through Christ, no opposition can finally succeed (cf. Romans 8:31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Lam 3:37Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not?
- Rom 8:31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
- Job 5:12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
- Prov 21:30There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
- Ps 46:11The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- 2 Sam 15:31And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.
- Isa 7:5–7Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
- Ps 33:10–11The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
- Isa 41:10Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
- Ps 46:7The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
- 2 Chr 13:12And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the LORD God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.
- Deut 20:1When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
- 2 Sam 17:23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
- Ps 46:1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Josh 1:5There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
- Rom 8:13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
- Ps 83:3–18They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
- 1 Jn 4:4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
- Isa 7:14Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- Matt 28:20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
- 2 Chr 33:7–8And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
- Acts 5:38–39And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought:
- Isa 9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
- Ps 2:1–2Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
- Nah 1:9–12What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
- Matt 1:23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
- Isa 8:8And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel.
- 2 Sam 17:4And the saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 8:10 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.