2 Chronicles 25:8
New International Version
Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”

New Living Translation
If you let them go with your troops into battle, you will be defeated by the enemy no matter how well you fight. God will overthrow you, for he has the power to help you or to trip you up.”

English Standard Version
But go, act, be strong for the battle. Why should you suppose that God will cast you down before the enemy? For God has power to help or to cast down.”

Berean Standard Bible
Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”

King James Bible
But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

New King James Version
But if you go, be gone! Be strong in battle! Even so, God shall make you fall before the enemy; for God has power to help and to overthrow.”

New American Standard Bible
But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has the power to help and to bring down.”

NASB 1995
“But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down.”

NASB 1977
“But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will bring you down before the enemy, for God has power to help and to bring down.”

Legacy Standard Bible
But if you do go, do it, be strong for the battle; yet God will cause you to stumble before the enemy, for God has power to help and to cause to stumble.”

Amplified Bible
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.”

Christian Standard Bible
But if you go with them, do it! Be strong for battle! But God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to make one stumble.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But if you go with them, do it! Be strong for battle! But God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to make one stumble.”

American Standard Version
But if thou wilt go, do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God will cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because you are entering to make great war, LORD JEHOVAH casts you before your enemies, because you have not glorified LORD JEHOVAH who is the helper and the one who exalts.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For if thou shalt undertake to strengthen thyself with these, then the lord shall put thee to flight before the enemies: for it is of the Lord both to strengthen and to put to flight.

Contemporary English Version
and so he will let your enemies defeat you, even if you fight hard. He is the one who brings both victory and defeat."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if thou think that battles consist in the strength of the army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemies: for it belongeth to God both to help, and to put to flight.

English Revised Version
But if thou wilt go, do valiantly, be strong for the battle: God shall cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
If you go into battle with them, no matter how courageous you are, God will use the enemy to defeat you, because God has the power to help you or to defeat you."

Good News Translation
You may think that they will make you stronger in battle, but it is God who has the power to give victory or defeat, and he will let your enemies defeat you."

International Standard Version
But if you do go, strengthen yourself for war. Do you think God will throw you down before the enemy, since God has the power both to help or to overthrow?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
But if thou wilt go, and do engage never so valiantly in battle, God will cast thee down before the enemy; for God hath power to help, and to cast down.'

Literal Standard Version
but if you are going, do [it], be strong for battle, God causes you to stumble before an enemy, for there is power in God to help, and to cause to stumble.”

Majority Standard Bible
Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.”

New American Bible
Instead, go on your own, strongly prepared for the battle; why should the LORD hinder you in the face of the enemy: for with God is power to help or to hinder.”

NET Bible
Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will defeat you before the enemy. God is capable of helping or defeating."

New Revised Standard Version
Rather, go by yourself and act; be strong in battle, or God will fling you down before the enemy; for God has power to help or to overthrow.”

New Heart English Bible
But if you will go, take action, be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow."

Webster's Bible Translation
But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God will make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down.

World English Bible
But if you will go, take action, and be strong for the battle. God will overthrow you before the enemy; for God has power to help, and to overthrow.”

Young's Literal Translation
but if thou art going -- do it, be strong for battle, God doth cause thee to stumble before an enemy, for there is power in God to help, and to cause to stumble.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Amaziah's Victories
7But a man of God came to him and said, “O king, do not let the army of Israel go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel—not with any of the Ephraimites. 8Even if you go and fight bravely in battle, God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has power to help and power to overthrow.” 9Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the army of Israel?” And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”…

Cross References
2 Chronicles 14:11
Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God: "O LORD, there is no one besides You to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal prevail against You."

2 Chronicles 20:6
and said, "O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You.


Treasury of Scripture

But if you will go, do it; be strong for the battle: God shall make you fall before the enemy: for God has power to help, and to cast down.

be strong

2 Chronicles 18:14
And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.

Ecclesiastes 11:9
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.

Isaiah 8:9,10
Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces…

God hath power

2 Chronicles 14:11
And Asa cried unto the LORD his God, and said, LORD, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O LORD, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.

2 Chronicles 20:6
And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

Judges 7:7
And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

army [heb] band

2 Chronicles 25:13
But the soldiers of the army which Amaziah sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from Samaria even unto Bethhoron, and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil.

the Lord

2 Chronicles 1:12
Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

Deuteronomy 8:18
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Psalm 24:1
A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

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Attackers Battle Cast Cause Courageously Enemy Engage Fall Fight Fighting Help Overthrow Power Strong Stumble Suppose Valiantly War Way Wilt
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Attackers Battle Cast Cause Courageously Enemy Engage Fall Fight Fighting Help Overthrow Power Strong Stumble Suppose Valiantly War Way Wilt
2 Chronicles 25
1. Amaziah begins to reign well
3. He executes justice on the traitors
5. having hired an army of Israelites against the Edomites,
7. at the word of a prophet dismisses them
11. He overthrows the Edomites
13. The Israelites, discontented with their dismission, spoil as they return home
14. Amaziah, proud of his victory, serves the gods of Edom, and ignores the prophet
17. He provokes Joash to his overthrow
25. His reign
27. He is slain by conspiracy














(8) But if thou wilt go.--Rather, But go thyself; in contrast with the prohibition, "Let not the army of Israel go."

Do it, be strong for the battle.--Compare 1Chronicles 22:16 : "Arise! act!"

God shall make thee fall.--Before these words, the expression w?l?', "and not," must have dropped out of the text. "Venture on the expedition by thyself. with a good courage," says the prophet, "and God will not let thee stumble before the foe."

For God hath power.--For there is strength in God, to help and to make to stumble. (Comp. 2Chronicles 20:6; 1Chronicles 29:12; Psalm 9:3.) The ancient versions were evidently embarrassed by the passage. The LXX. render: "Because if thou think to prevail through them, then will the Lord rout thee before thy foes; because it is from the Lord both to be strong and to rout." Vulg.: "But if thou thinkest that wars depend on the strength of an army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemy." Syriac: "Because thou art going to make war, the Lord will cast thee down before thy foes; because thou hast not praised the Lord, who is the helper and uplifter." It is noticeable that no version inserts the required negative; the omission, therefore, is ancient. . . .

Verse 8. - It is hard to feel satisfied as to the correct rendering of this verse. The drift of the next verse, which shows Amaziah a convert to the strong exhortation of the man of God, makes either alternative allowable under the present text very untimely. and not very much in accord with what we should look for at the lips of the man of God. The very conceivable way out of the difficulty is to read לא, hyphened to אם (all the rather that no vau is present in בּלֺא, as the present text is), and proceed to supply בּא or בּוא again before אַתָּה, crediting some copyist with confusion of eye through these having come close together in his manuscript. The rendering will then be straightforward, and prepare the way for Amaziah's yielding conformably with the tenor of the next verse. "But if not" (i.e. if thou wilt not be guided by my remonstrance as to Ephraim), "go thou, be on the alert, exert all the strength possible for the battle, and yet nevertheless God will cause thee to stumble." And the remaining sentence may bear this significance, "For God hath power to help thee though alone, or to cast thee down though supported by an extra hundred thousand." If such alteration or conjectural restoration of the text be not accepted, we may harmonize the facts of the case with the most utter faithfulness of lip on the part of the prophet, by translating, "For in very truth, if thou go at all, and though thou make the best preparations, God shall make it go ill with thee." And Amaziah is persuaded to this point, that he will neither risk the lives of them of Ephraim vainly, nor risk the likelier displeasure of God on himself. He yields only partly, and therefore is nothing benefited. The difficulty is left untouched, that the prophet did not simply in toto forbid Amaziah to go, and that, saving them of Ephraim, he saves them to be a second scourge for the back of Amaziah, though he took his prophet's advice so far, and lost his own money. A careful and devout observer of human life and perverseness, when once these commit themselves to the vain struggle with God, and equally vain attempt to haggle with his providence as to how much to yield and how much to resist and with. hold, cannot but be struck with the photograph here thrown off, and that it is a faithful one, of hard facts that have met together disastrously times without number in men's lives. The sum, then, of the matter of our vers. 7, 8 may amount to this: "Under no circumstances take Israel, and if thou go thyself with all best preparations, yet know that God shall destroy thee."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Even
כִּ֚י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

if
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you
אַתָּ֔ה (’at·tāh)
Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

go
בֹּ֣א (bō)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

and fight
עֲשֵׂ֖ה (‘ă·śêh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

bravely
חֲזַ֣ק (ḥă·zaq)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 2388: To fasten upon, to seize, be strong, obstinate, to bind, restrain, conquer

in battle,
לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה (lam·mil·ḥā·māh)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4421: A battle, war

God
הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

will make you stumble
יַכְשִֽׁילְךָ֤ (yaḵ·šî·lə·ḵā)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3782: To totter, waver, to falter, stumble, faint, fall

before
לִפְנֵ֣י (lip̄·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the enemy,
אוֹיֵ֔ב (’ō·w·yêḇ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 341: Hating, an adversary

for
כִּ֥י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

God
בֵּאלֹהִ֖ים (bê·lō·hîm)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

has
יֶשׁ־ (yeš-)
Adverb
Strong's 3426: Being, substance, existence, is

power
כֹּ֛חַ (kō·aḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3581: A small reptile (of unknown species)

to help
לַעְז֥וֹר (la‘·zō·wr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5826: To surround, protect, aid

and [power] to overthrow.”
וּלְהַכְשִֽׁיל׃ (ū·lə·haḵ·šîl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3782: To totter, waver, to falter, stumble, faint, fall


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OT History: 2 Chronicles 25:8 But if you will go do valiantly (2 Chron. 2Ch iiCh ii ch 2 chr 2chr)
2 Chronicles 25:7
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