Isaiah 44:2

44:2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says –

the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:

“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,

Jeshurun, ¹  whom I have chosen!

Joshua 1:6-7

1:6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. ²  1:7 Make sure you are ³  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ⁴  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ⁵  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ⁶  in all you do. ⁷ 

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Daniel 10:19

10:19 He said to me, “Don’t be afraid, you who are valued. ⁸  Peace be to you! Be strong! Be really strong!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened. I said, “Sir, you may speak now, ⁹  for you have given me strength.”

Haggai 2:4

2:4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord. ‘Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and ¹⁰  all you citizens of the land,’ ¹¹  says the Lord, ‘and begin to work. For I am with you,’ says the Lord who rules over all.

Ephesians 6:10

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.

Ephesians 6:2

6:2 “Honor your father and mother,” ¹²  which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely,

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ¹³  dead ¹⁴  in your transgressions and sins,

¹ sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.

² tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.

³ tn Or “Only be.”

⁴ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

⁵ tn Heb “commanded you.”

⁶ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

⁷ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

⁸ tn Heb “treasured man.”

⁹ tn Heb “my lord may speak.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and take heart.” Although emphatic, the repetition of the verb is redundant in contemporary English style and has been left untranslated.

¹¹ tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ’am ha’arets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.

¹² sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.

¹³ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

¹⁴ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.