Isaiah 41:10-14

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

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ¹ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ² 

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

your adversaries ³  will be reduced to nothing ⁴  and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, ⁵  you will not find them;

your enemies ⁶  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, ⁷ 

men of ⁸  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ⁹  the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 43:1-6

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 ¹¹  you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

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

when you pass ¹²  through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

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

the flames will not harm ¹³  you.

43:3 For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁴  your deliverer.

I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,

Ethiopia and Seba ¹⁵  in place of you.

43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, ¹⁶ 

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.

43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’

and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’

Bring my sons from distant lands,

and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

Isaiah 54:4-5

54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ¹⁷  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ¹⁸ 

54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, ¹⁹  the Holy One of Israel. ²⁰ 

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

Zephaniah 3:16-17

3:16 On that day they will say ²¹  to Jerusalem,

“Don’t be afraid, Zion!

Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ²² 

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ²³ 

he renews you by his love; ²⁴ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ²⁵ 

Revelation 2:10

2:10 Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer. The devil is about to have some of you thrown ²⁶  into prison so you may be tested, ²⁷  and you will experience suffering ²⁸  for ten days. Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. ²⁹ 

[41:10]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[41:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

[41:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

[41:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:1]  ¹¹ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

[43:2]  ¹² tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[43:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”

[43:3]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:3]  ¹⁵ sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.

[43:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”

[54:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ¹⁸ tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.

[54:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:5]  ²⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[3:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ²² tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:17]  ²³ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ²⁴ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “is about to throw some of you,” but the force is causative in context.

[2:10]  ²⁷ tn Or “tempted.”

[2:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “experience persecution,” “will be in distress” (see L&N 22.2).

[2:10]  ²⁹ tn Grk “crown of life,” with the genitive “of life” (τῆς ζωῆς, th" zwh") functioning in apposition to “crown” (στέφανον, stefanon): “the crown that consists of life.”