Psalms 27:14

27:14 Rely ¹  on the Lord!

Be strong and confident! ² 

Rely on the Lord!

Isaiah 35:3-4

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ³ 

35:4 Tell those who panic, ⁴ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ⁵ 

Luke 22:31-32

22:31 “Simon, ⁶  Simon, pay attention! ⁷  Satan has demanded to have you all, ⁸  to sift you like wheat, ⁹  22:32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, ¹⁰  that your faith may not fail. ¹¹  When ¹²  you have turned back, ¹³  strengthen ¹⁴  your brothers.”

Hebrews 12:12-13

12:12 Therefore, strengthen ¹⁵  your listless hands and your weak knees, ¹⁶  12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, ¹⁷  so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

James 5:10-11

5:10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, ¹⁸  take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name. 5:11 Think of how we regard ¹⁹  as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and you have seen the Lord’s purpose, that the Lord is full of compassion and mercy. ²⁰ 

¹ tn Or “wait.”

² tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”

³ tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

⁴ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

⁵ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

⁶ tc The majority of mss (א A D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 Ï as well as several versional witnesses) begin this verse with an introductory comment, “and the Lord said,” indicating a change in the subject of discussion. But this is apparently a reading motivated by the need for clarity. Some of the best witnesses, along with a few others (Ì⁷⁵ B L T 1241 2542^c sy^s co), do not contain these words. The abrupt shift is the more difficult reading and thus more likely to be original.

⁷ tn Grk “behold” (for “pay attention” see L&N 91.13).

⁸ sn This pronoun is plural in the Greek text, so it refers to all the disciples of which Peter is the representative.

⁹ sn Satan has demanded permission to put them to the test. The idiom “sift (someone) like wheat” is similar to the English idiom “to pick (someone) apart.” The pronoun you is implied.

¹⁰ sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.

¹¹ sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.

¹² tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹³ tn Or “turned around.”

¹⁴ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.

¹⁵ tn Or “straighten.”

¹⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 35:3. Strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees refers to the readers’ need for renewed resolve and fresh strength in their struggles (cf. Heb 10:36-39; 12:1-3).

¹⁷ sn A quotation from Prov 4:26. The phrase make straight paths for your feet is figurative for “stay on God’s paths.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.

¹⁹ tn Grk “Behold! We regard…”

²⁰ sn An allusion to Exod 34:6; Neh 9:17; Ps 86:15; 102:13; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2.