'Power' in the Bible

The [population of the] earth was corrupt [absolutely depraved—spiritually and morally putrid] in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence [desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power].

But Abram said to Sarai, “Look, your maid is entirely in your hands and subject to your authority; do as you please with her.” So Sarai treated her harshly and humiliated her, and Hagar fled from her.

You know that I have served your father with all my strength.

It is in my power to harm you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, ‘Be careful not to speak to Jacob, either good or bad.’

And He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”

“Reuben, you are my firstborn;My might, the beginning of my strength and vigor,Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power [that should have been your birthright].

So I have come down to rescue them from the hand (power) of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a land [that is] good and spacious, to a land flowing with milk and honey [a land of plenty]—to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So Moses threw it on the ground, and it became a [living] serpent [like the royal symbol on the crown of Pharaoh]; and Moses ran from it.

But indeed for this very reason I have allowed you to live, in order to show you My power and in order that My name may be proclaimed throughout all the earth.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants [making them determined and unresponsive], so that I may exhibit My signs [of divine power] among them,

and that you may recount and explain in the hearing of your son, and your grandson, what I have done [repeatedly] to make a mockery of the Egyptians—My signs [of divine power] which I have done among them—so that you may know [without any doubt] and recognize [clearly] that I am the Lord.”

“Your right hand, O Lord, is glorious in power;Your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.

If she does not please her master who has chosen her for himself [as a wife], he shall let her be redeemed [by her family]. He does not have the authority to sell her to a foreign people, because he has been unfair to her.

But Moses appeased and entreated the Lord his God, and said, “Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?

I will break your pride in your power, and I will make your sky like iron [giving no rain and blocking all prayers] and your ground like bronze [hard to plow and yielding no produce].

They shall stumble over one another as if to escape from a sword when no one is chasing them; and you will have no power to stand before your enemies.

The Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand (ability, power) limited (short, inadequate)? You shall see now whether My word will come to pass for you or not.”

But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying,

So Balaam said to Balak, “Indeed I have come to you now, but am I able to say anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.”

And because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants who followed them, and brought you from Egypt with His Presence, with His great and awesome power,

Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’

But you shall remember [with profound respect] the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore (solemnly promised) to your fathers, as it is this day.

Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm.’

and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror [suffered by the Egyptians] and with signs and with wonders;

“For the Lord will vindicate His people,And will have compassion on His servants,When He sees that their strength (hand) is gone,And none remains, whether bond or free.

and in all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

When the men of Ai turned back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city was ascending toward the sky, and they had no opportunity to run this way or that way. Then the people who had been running to the wilderness turned back toward the pursuers.

Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot,

So the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands (power) of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer stand [in opposition] before their enemies.

So the Lord allowed those nations to remain, not driving them out at once; and He did not give them into the hand of Joshua.

All the people at the gate and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the household of Israel. May you achieve wealth and power in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.

“The adversaries of the Lord will be broken to pieces;He will thunder against them in the heavens,The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;And He will give strength to His king,And will exalt the horn (strength) of His anointed.”

When the people (soldiers) came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, so that He may come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

Then David defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the River [Euphrates].

He said, “Bring me a new jar, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.

But now bring me a musician.” And it came about while the musician played, that the hand (power) of the Lord came upon Elisha.

But he said, “Bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Serve it for the people so that they may eat.” Then there was nothing harmful in the pot.

But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, and to Him you shall bow yourselves down, and to Him you shall sacrifice.

‘Therefore their inhabitants were powerless,They were shattered [in spirit] and put to shame;They were like plants of the field, the green herb,As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion and kingdom, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all. In Your hand is power and might; and it is in Your hands to make great and to give strength to everyone.

“Also in regard to the foreigner who is not from Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for the sake of Your great name and Your mighty power and Your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this house,

“Now then arise, O Lord God, [and come] to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength and power. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let Your godly ones rejoice in [Your] goodness.

and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven? And do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, there is no one able to take a stand against You.

But if you do go [in spite of this warning], be strong and courageous for battle; yet God will cause you to stumble and fall before the enemy, for God has power to help and to cause people to stumble.”

Under their command was an army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy.

Therefore the Lord his God handed over Ahaz to the king of Aram (Syria), who defeated him and led away a great number [of the people] as captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also handed over to the king of Israel, who struck Judah with a great slaughter.

Then as soon as the copy of King Artaxerxes’ document was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe, and their colleagues, they went up hurriedly to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them stop [work] by force of arms.

For I was ashamed to request troops and horsemen from the king to protect us from the enemy along the way, because we had told the king, “The hand of our God is favorable toward all those who seek Him, but His power and His anger are against all those who abandon (turn away from) Him.”

Now they are Your servants and Your people whom You have redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

“Yet You were patient with them for many years,And admonished them and warned them by Your Spirit through Your prophets;Still they would not listen.Therefore You gave them into the hand (power) of the peoples of the lands.

“Its abundant produce is for the kingsWhom You have set over us because of our sins;They also rule over our bodiesAnd over our cattle as they please,So we are in great distress.

Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full power and authority to confirm this second letter about Purim.

And all the accomplishments of his authority and strength, and the full account of the greatness of Mordecai to which the king had raised him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia?

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that Job has is in your power, only do not put your hand on the man himself.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

“In famine He will redeem you from death,And in war from the power of the sword.

“If your children have sinned against Him,Then He has handed them over to the power of their transgression and punished them.

“The tents of the destroyers prosper;And those who provoke God are [apparently] secure,Whom God brings into their power.

“With Him are might and sound wisdom,The misled and the misleader are His [and in His power].

“Why do the wicked still live,Become old, and become mighty in power?

“But notice, the prosperity of the wicked is not in their hand (in their power);The counsel of the wicked [and the mystery of God’s dealings with the ungodly] is far from my comprehension.

“But the land is possessed by the man with power,And the favored and honorable man dwells in it.

“Would He contend against me with His great power?No, surely He would give attention to me.

“Yet God draws away the mighty by His power;He rises, but no one has assurance of life.

“What a help you are to the weak (powerless)!How you have saved the arm that is without strength!

“He stirred up the sea by His power,And by His understanding He smashed [proud] Rahab.

“Yet these are just the fringes of His ways [mere samples of His power],The faintest whisper of His voice!Who can contemplate the thunder of His [full] mighty power?”

“For it will hurl [thunderbolts of God’s wrath] at him unsparingly and without compassion;He flees in haste from its power.

“Behold, God is mighty, and yet does not despise anyone [nor regard any as trivial];He is mighty in the strength and power of understanding.

“Behold, God is exalted in His power;Who is a ruler or a teacher like Him?

“God seals (brings to a standstill, stops) [by severe weather] the hand of every man,That all men [whom He has made] may know His work [that is, His sovereign power and their subjection to it].

“The Almighty—we cannot find Him;He is exalted in powerAnd He will not do violence to [nor disregard] justice and abundant righteousness.

“See now, his strength is in his loinsAnd his power is in the muscles and sinews of his belly.

“He is the first [in magnitude and power] of the works of God;[Only] He who made him can bring near His sword [to master him].

Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;We will sing and praise Your power.

Rescue my life from the sword,My only life from the paw of the dog (the executioner).

The king is not saved by the great size of his army;A warrior is not rescued by his great strength.

A horse is a false hope for victory;Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.

I have seen a wicked, violent man [with great power]Spreading and flaunting himself like a cedar in its native soil,

You drove out the [pagan] nations with Your own hand;Then you planted and established them (Israel);[It was by Your power that] You uprooted the [pagan] peoples,Then You spread them abroad.

But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol,For He will receive me. Selah.

Save me, O God, by Your name;And vindicate me by Your [wondrous] power.

Do not kill them, or my people will forget;Scatter them and make them wander [endlessly] back and forth by Your power, and bring them down,O Lord our shield!

But as for me, I will sing of Your mighty strength and power;Yes, I will sing joyfully of Your lovingkindness in the morning;For You have been my strongholdAnd a refuge in the day of my distress.

God has spoken once,Twice I have heard this:That power belongs to God.

So I have gazed upon You in the sanctuary,To see Your power and Your glory.

They will be given over to the power of the sword;They will be a prey for foxes.

Who creates the mountains by His strength,Being clothed with power,

Say to God, “How awesome and fearfully glorious are Your works!Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will pretend to be obedient to You.

That Your way may be known on earth,Your salvation and deliverance among all nations.

The Lord gives the command [to take Canaan];The women who proclaim the good news are a great host (army);

Ascribe strength to God;His majesty is over IsraelAnd His strength is in the skies.

And even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not abandon me,Until I declare Your [mighty] strength to this generation,Your power to all who are to come.

You are the [awesome] God who works [powerful] wonders;You have demonstrated Your power among the people.

Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).

He caused the east wind to blow in the heavensAnd by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.

And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity,And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).

Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].

Let the groaning and sighing of the prisoner come before You;According to the greatness of Your power keep safe those who are doomed to die.

They go from strength to strength [increasing in victorious power];Each of them appears before God in Zion.