Deuteronomy 31:6-8

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!” 31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua ¹  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ²  and you will enable them to inherit it. 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!”

Isaiah 41:10-14

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

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ³ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ⁴ 

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

your adversaries ⁵  will be reduced to nothing ⁶  and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, ⁷  you will not find them;

your enemies ⁸  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, ⁹ 

men of ¹⁰  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ¹¹  the Holy One of Israel. ¹² 

Isaiah 43:2-5

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

when you pass ¹³  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

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

the flames will not harm ¹⁴  you.

43:3 For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁵  your deliverer.

I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,

Ethiopia and Seba ¹⁶  in place of you.

43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, ¹⁷ 

and I love you,

I will hand over people in place of you,

nations in place of your life.

43:5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

From the east I will bring your descendants;

from the west I will gather you.

Hebrews 13:5

13:5 Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” ¹⁸ 

[31:7]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:7]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).

[41:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[41:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

[41:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

[41:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:2]  ¹³ tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[43:3]  ¹⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:3]  ¹⁶ sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

[43:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”

[13:5]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 31:6, 8.