2 Chronicles 32:7-8

32:7 “Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic ¹  because of the king of Assyria and this huge army that is with him! We have with us one who is stronger than those who are with him. ²  32:8 He has with him mere human strength, ³  but the Lord our God is with us to help us and fight our battles!” The army ⁴  was encouraged by the words of King Hezekiah of Judah.

Exodus 14:13-14

14:13 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! ⁵  Stand firm ⁶  and see ⁷  the salvation ⁸  of the Lord that he will provide ⁹  for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. ¹⁰  14:14 The Lord ¹¹  will fight for you, and you can be still.” ¹² 

Deuteronomy 1:29-30

1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified ¹³  of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go ¹⁴  ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt ¹⁵ 

Deuteronomy 20:1

Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies

20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry ¹⁶  and troops ¹⁷  who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

Deuteronomy 20:4

20:4 for the Lord your God goes with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory.” ¹⁸ 

Deuteronomy 31:6

31:6 Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or tremble before them, for the Lord your God is the one who is going with you. He will not fail you or abandon you!”

Deuteronomy 31:8

31:8 The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

Joshua 11:6

11:6 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn ¹⁹  their chariots.”

Nehemiah 4:14

4:14 When I had made an inspection, ²⁰  I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the great and awesome Lord, ²¹  and fight on behalf of your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your families!” ²² 

Psalms 17:1-2

Psalm 17 ²³ 

A prayer of David.

17:1 Lord, consider my just cause! ²⁴ 

Pay attention to my cry for help!

Listen to the prayer

I sincerely offer! ²⁵ 

17:2 Make a just decision on my behalf! ²⁶ 

Decide what is right! ²⁷ 

Isaiah 41:10-16

41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ²⁸ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ²⁹ 

41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;

your adversaries ³⁰  will be reduced to nothing ³¹  and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, ³²  you will not find them;

your enemies ³³  will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

41:13 For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ³⁴ 

men of ³⁵  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ³⁶  the Holy One of Israel. ³⁷ 

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ³⁸  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ³⁹ 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ⁴⁰ 

41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;

the wind will scatter them.

You will rejoice in the Lord;

you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 43:1-2

The Lord Will Rescue His People

43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,

the one who created you, O Jacob,

and formed you, O Israel:

“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect ⁴¹  you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass ⁴²  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm ⁴³  you.

[32:7]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “and don’t be discouraged.”

[32:7]  ² tn Heb “for with us [is] a greater [one] than with him.”

[32:8]  ³ tn Heb “With him is an arm of flesh.”

[32:8]  ⁴ tn Or “people.”

[14:13]  ⁵ tn The use of אַל (’al) with the jussive has the force of “stop fearing.” It is a more immediate negative command than לֹא (lo’) with the imperfect (as in the Decalogue).

[14:13]  ⁶ tn The force of this verb in the Hitpael is “to station oneself” or “stand firm” without fleeing.

[14:13]  ⁷ tn The form is an imperative with a vav (ו). It could also be rendered “stand firm and you will see” meaning the result, or “stand firm that you may see” meaning the purpose.

[14:13]  ⁸ tn Or “victory” (NAB) or “deliverance” (NIV, NRSV).

[14:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “do,” i.e., perform or accomplish.

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn The construction uses a verbal hendiadys consisting of a Hiphil imperfect (“you will not add”) and a Qal infinitive construct with a suffix (“to see them”) – “you will no longer see them.” Then the clause adds “again, for ever.”

[14:14]  ¹¹ tn The word order places emphasis on “the Lord” (Heb “Yahweh”).

[14:14]  ¹² tn The imperfect tense needs to be interpreted in contrast to all that Yahweh will be doing. It may be given a potential imperfect nuance (as here), or it may be obligatory to follow the command to stand firm: “you must be still.”

[1:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.

[1:30]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).

[1:30]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”

[20:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “horse and chariot.”

[20:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “people.”

[20:4]  ¹⁸ tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”

[11:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

[4:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And I saw.”

[4:14]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[4:14]  ²² tn Heb “houses.”

[17:1]  ²³ sn Psalm 17. The psalmist asks God to intervene on his behalf because his life is threatened by dangerous enemies. He appeals to divine justice, for he is certain of his own innocence. Because he is innocent, he expects to encounter God and receive an assuring word.

[17:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “hear, Lord, what is just.”

[17:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Listen to my prayer, [made] without lips of deceit.”

[17:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “From before you may my justice come out.” The prefixed verbal form יָצָא (yatsa’) could be taken as an imperfect, but following the imperatives in v. 1, it is better understood as a jussive of prayer.

[17:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “May your eyes look at what is right.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as jussive. (See also the preceding note on the word “behalf.”)

[41:10]  ²⁸ tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).

[41:10]  ²⁹ tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).

[41:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[41:12]  ³² tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

[41:12]  ³³ tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

[41:14]  ³⁴ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ³⁵ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ³⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[41:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ³⁹ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

[41:15]  ⁴⁰ sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

[43:1]  ⁴¹ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

[43:2]  ⁴² tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”