'Power' in the Bible

Once You spoke in a vision to Your godly ones,And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty [giving him the power to be a champion for Israel];I have exalted one chosen from the people.

“My faithfulness and My steadfast lovingkindness shall be with him,And in My name shall his horn be exalted [great power and prosperity shall be conferred upon him].

Who understands the power of Your anger? [Who connects this brevity of life among us with Your judgment of sin?]And Your wrath, [who connects it] with the [reverent] fear that is due You?

Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servantsAnd Your [glorious] majesty to their children.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most HighWill remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty and splendor;The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength;the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.

That You may grant him [power to calm himself and find] peace in the days of adversity,Until the pit is dug for the wicked and ungodly.

Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,That He might make His [supreme] power known.

Your people will offer themselves willingly [to participate in Your battle] in the day of Your power;In the splendor of holiness, from the womb of the dawn,Your young men are to You as the dew.

He has declared and made known to His people the power of His works,In giving them the heritage of the nations.

Set me free and rescue me from the hand of [hostile] foreigners,Whose mouth speaks deceit [without restraint],And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdomAnd talk of Your power,

Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].

He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them strength, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence],Praise for all His godly ones;For the people of Israel, a people near to Him.Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Praise the Lord!Praise God in His sanctuary;Praise Him in His mighty heavens.

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due [its rightful recipients],When it is in your power to do it.

Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].

“Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;I am understanding, power and strength are mine.

A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life,But a perversive tongue [speaking words that overwhelm and depress] crushes the spirit.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.

A wise man is strong,And a man of knowledge strengthens his power;

When the righteous triumph, there is great glory and celebration;But when the wicked rise [to prominence], men hide themselves.

When the wicked rise [to power], men hide themselves;But when the wicked perish, the [consistently] righteous increase and become great.

Then I looked again and considered all the acts of oppression that were being practiced under the sun. And behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and they had no one to comfort them; and on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them.

Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, He has also given the power and ability to enjoy them and to receive [this as] his [allotted] portion and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God [to him].

a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God has not given him the power or capacity to enjoy them [all those things which are gifts from God], but a stranger [in whom he has no interest succeeds him and] enjoys them. This is vanity and it is a [cause of] great distress.

For the word of a king is authoritative and powerful,And who will say to him, “What are you doing?”

There is no man who has power and authority over the wind to restrain the wind,Nor does he have authority over the day of death;There is no discharge [from service] during time of war,And evil will not rescue those who [actively seek to] practice it.

All this I have seen while applying my mind to every deed that is done under the sun. There is a time in which one man has exercised power over others to their detriment.

“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of ShiloahAnd rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],

For the Assyrian king has said,“I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and by my wisdom,For I have understanding and skill.I have removed the boundaries of the peoplesAnd have plundered their treasures;Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

“Therefore their inhabitants had little power,They were terrorized and shamed;They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation,Like grass on the housetops and like a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.

Lift up your eyes on highAnd see who has created these heavenly bodies,The One who brings out their host by number,He calls them all by name;Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,Not one is missing.

He gives strength to the weary,And to him who has no might He increases power.

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]Will gain new strength and renew their power;They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];They will run and not become weary,They will walk and not grow tired.

“But these two things shall come to you abruptly, in one day:Loss of children and widowhood.They will come on you in full measureIn spite of your many [claims of power through your] sorceries,In spite of the great power of your enchantments.

“In fact, they are like stubble;Fire burns them.They cannot save themselves from the power of the flame [much less save the nation],There is no blazing coal for warmingNor fire before which to sit!

“Why, when I came, was there no man [to greet Me]?When I called, why was there no one to answer?Is My hand really so short that it cannot redeem [My servants]?Or have I no power to rescue?Listen carefully, with My rebuke I dry up the sea,I make the rivers into a desert;Their fish stink because there is no waterAnd die of thirst.

“Then your light will break out like the dawn,And your healing (restoration, new life) will quickly spring forth;Your righteousness will go before you [leading you to peace and prosperity],The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,And as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,So the Lord God will [most certainly] cause righteousness and justice and praiseTo spring up before all the nations [through the power of His word].

There is no one who calls on Your name,Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You;For You have hidden Your face from usAnd have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing].

Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like an iron pillar and like bronze walls against the whole land—against the [successive] kings of Judah, against its leaders, against its priests, and against the people of the land [giving you divine strength which no hostile power can overcome].

“Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes [as powerful enemies]Have shaved the crown of your head [to degrade you].

Thus says the Lord, “Let not the one who is wise and skillful boast in his insight; let not the one who is mighty and powerful boast in his strength; let not the one who is rich boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] abundance;

God made the earth by His power;He established the world by His wisdomAnd by His understanding and skill He has stretched out the heavens.

“Therefore,” [says the Lord] “behold, I will make them know—This time I will make them knowMy power and My might;And they will know and recognize [without any doubt] that My Name is the Lord.”

Therefore, give their children over to the famine;Give them over to the power of the sword.And let their wives become childless and widowed;Let their men meet death [by virulent disease],Their young men be struck down by the sword in battle.

“I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to whomever pleases Me.

‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—

“Show sympathy for him, all you [nations] who are around him,And all you [distant nations] who know his name;Say, ‘How has the mighty scepter [of national power] been broken,And the splendid staff [of glory]!’

He made the earth by His power;He established the world by His wisdomAnd stretched out the heavens by His understanding.

I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant and soothing aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands in which you have been scattered; and I will prove Myself holy and manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations.

‘It is sharpened to make a slaughter,Polished to flash and glimmer like lightning!’Shall we then rejoice [when such a disaster approaches]? But it rejects and views with contempt the scepter of My son [Judah].

“Behold, the princes of Israel, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood in you.

With your [own] wisdom and with your [own] understandingYou have acquired your riches and powerAnd have brought gold and silver into your treasuries;

By your great wisdom and by your tradeYou have increased your riches and power,And your heart is proud and arrogant because of your wealth;

‘Thus says the Lord,“Those who uphold and support Egypt will fallAnd the pride of her power will come down;From Migdol [in the north] to Syene [in the south]They will fall within her by the sword,”Says the Lord God.

“In Tehaphnehes the day will be darkWhen I break the yoke bars and dominion of Egypt there.Then the pride of her power will come to an end;A cloud [of disasters] will cover her,And her daughters will go into captivity.

Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest],

And the nations will know [without any doubt] that the house of Israel went into exile for their great sin, because they acted treacherously against Me; and I hid My face (favor, blessing) from them. So I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell [into captivity or were killed] by [the power of] the sword.

You, O king, are the king of [earthly] kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory;

The satraps, the prefects, the governors and the king’s counselors gathered around them and saw that in regard to these men the fire had no effect on their bodies—their hair was not singed, their clothes were not scorched or damaged, even the smell of smoke was not on them.

The king said thoughtfully, ‘Is not this the great Babylon which I myself have built as the royal residence and seat of government by the might of my power and for the honor and glory of my majesty?’

“He rescues and saves and performs signs and wondersIn heaven and on earth—He who has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

As for the rest of the beasts, their power was taken away; yet their lives were prolonged [for the length of their lives was fixed] for a predetermined time.

I saw the ram (Medo-Persia) charging westward and northward and southward; no beast could stand before him, nor was there anyone who could rescue [anything] from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.

He came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and charged at him in [the fury of] his power and wrath.

[In my vision] I saw him come close to the ram (Medo-Persia), and he was filled with rage toward him; and the goat (Greece) struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to stand before him. So the goat threw him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was no one who could rescue the ram from his power.

Regarding the shattered horn and the four others that arose in its place, four kingdoms will rise from his (Alexander’s) nation, although not with his power and heritage.

“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power;And he will corrupt and destroy in an astonishing mannerAnd [he will] prosper and do exactly as he wills;He shall corrupt and destroy mighty men and the holy people.

After some years the Syrian king of the North and the Egyptian king of the South will make an alliance; the daughter (Berenice) of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to make an equitable and peaceful agreement (marriage); but she will not retain the power of her position, nor will he retain his power. She will be handed over with her attendants and her father as well as he who supported her in those times.

But he (Syria) who comes against him (Egypt) will do exactly as he pleases, and no one will be able to stand against him; he (Antiochus III the Great) will also stay for a time in the Beautiful and Glorious Land [of Israel], with destruction in his hand.

He will stir up his strength and courage against [his former Egyptian ally] the king of the South (Ptolemy VI) with a great army; so the king of the South will prepare an extremely great and powerful army to wage war, but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him.

He will have power over the treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians will follow in his footsteps.

And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he held up his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and a half a time (three and a half years); and as soon as they finish shattering and crushing the power of the holy people, all these things will be finished.

The more they multiplied [in numbers and increased in power], the more they sinned against Me;I will change their glory into shame.

In their mother’s womb he took his brother by the heel,And in his maturity he contended with God.

He wrestled with the angel and prevailed;He wept [in repentance] and sought His favor.He met Him at BethelAnd there God spoke with [him and through him with] us—

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead)?Shall I redeem them from death?O death, where are your thorns?O Sheol, where is your sting?Compassion is hidden from My eyes [because of their failure to repent].

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickednessAnd plot evil on their beds!When morning comes, they practice evilBecause it is in the power of their hands.

But in fact, I am filled with power,With the Spirit of the Lord,And with justice and might,To declare to Jacob his transgressionAnd to Israel his sin.

The Lord is slow to anger and great in powerAnd He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,And the clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

The one who scatters has come up against you [Nineveh].Man the fortress and ramparts, watch the road;Strengthen your back [prepare for battle], summon all your strength.

“Then they will sweep by like the wind and pass on.But they will be held guilty,They [and all men] whose own power and strength is their god.”

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing]To set his nest on high,That he may be rescued from the hand of evil.

His brightness is like the sunlight;He has [bright] rays flashing from His hand,And there [in the sunlike splendor] is the hiding place of His power.

Then he said to me, “This [continuous supply of oil] is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel [prince of Judah], saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit [of whom the oil is a symbol],’ says the Lord of hosts.

Behold, the Lord will dispossess herAnd throw her wealth into the sea;And Tyre will be devoured by fire.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by [the power of] the Holy Spirit.

So the news about Him spread throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all who were sick, those suffering with various diseases and pains, those under the power of demons, and epileptics, paralytics; and He healed them.

‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’

When evening came, they brought to Him many who were under the power of demons; and He cast out the evil spirits with a word, and restored to health all who were sick [exhibiting His authority as Messiah],

The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the men under the power of demons.

When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God and praised Him, who had given such authority and power to men.

Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith [your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal] it will be done to you.”

While they were going away, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Jesus.

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man both spoke and saw.

This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things].

And He did not do many miracles there [in Nazareth] because of their unbelief.