Numbers 14:9

14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. ¹  Their protection ²  has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

Deuteronomy 1:21

1:21 Look, he ³  has placed the land in front of you! ⁴  Go up, take possession of it, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to do. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

Deuteronomy 1:29-30

1:29 So I responded to you, “Do not be terrified ⁵  of them! 1:30 The Lord your God is about to go ⁶  ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt ⁷ 

Deuteronomy 20:3-4

20:3 “Listen, Israel! Today you are moving forward to do battle with your enemies. Do not be fainthearted. Do not fear and tremble or be terrified because of them, 20:4 for the Lord your God goes with you to fight on your behalf against your enemies to give you victory.” ⁸ 

Joshua 1:9

1:9 I repeat, ⁹  be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, ¹⁰  for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” ¹¹ 

Joshua 1:2

1:2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! ¹²  Cross the Jordan River! ¹³  Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. ¹⁴ 

Joshua 20:1

Israel Designates Cities of Refuge

20:1 The Lord instructed Joshua:

Joshua 1:7

1:7 Make sure you are ¹⁵  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ¹⁶  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ¹⁷  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ¹⁸  in all you do. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 27:1

Psalm 27 ²⁰ 

By David.

27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! ²¹ 

I fear no one! ²² 

The Lord protects my life!

I am afraid of no one! ²³ 

Psalms 46:11

46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ²⁴ 

The God of Jacob ²⁵  is our protector! ²⁶  (Selah)

Isaiah 41:10-14

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

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! ²⁷ 

I strengthen you –

yes, I help you –

yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! ²⁸ 

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

your adversaries ²⁹  will be reduced to nothing ³⁰  and perish.

41:12 When you will look for your opponents, ³¹  you will not find them;

your enemies ³²  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, ³³ 

men of ³⁴  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ³⁵  the Holy One of Israel. ³⁶ 

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ³⁷  not be afraid of those who kill the body ³⁸  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ³⁹ 

Hebrews 13:6

13:6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and ⁴⁰  I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” ⁴¹ 

[14:9]  ¹ sn The expression must indicate that they could destroy the enemies as easily as they could eat bread.

[14:9]  ² tn Heb “their shade.” The figure compares the shade from the sun with the protection from the enemy. It is also possible that the text is alluding to their deities here.

[1:21]  ³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun (“he”) has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons, to avoid repetition.

[1:21]  ⁴ tn Or “has given you the land” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[1:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “do not tremble and do not be afraid.” Two synonymous commands are combined for emphasis.

[1:30]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”

[20:4]  ⁸ tn Or “to save you” (so KJV, NASB, NCV); or “to deliver you.”

[1:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.

[1:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”

[1:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[1:2]  ¹² tn Heb “Get up!”

[1:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ¹⁶ 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!”

[1:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[27:1]  ²⁰ sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.

[27:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “the Lord [is] my light and my deliverance.” “Light” is often used as a metaphor for deliverance and the life/blessings it brings. See Pss 37:6; 97:11; 112:4; Isa 49:6; 51:4; Mic 7:8. Another option is that “light” refers here to divine guidance (see Ps 43:3).

[27:1]  ²² tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[27:1]  ²³ tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”

[46:11]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:11]  ²⁵ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[41:10]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”

[41:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”

[41:12]  ³¹ tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”

[41:12]  ³² tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”

[41:14]  ³³ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ³⁴ 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]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ³⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:28]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ³⁸ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ³⁹ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[13:6]  ⁴⁰ tc Some important mss (א* C* P 0285^vid 33 1175 1739 pc lat) lack καί (kai), but because the omission conforms to the wording of Ps 118:6 (117:6 LXX), it is suspect.

[13:6]  ⁴¹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:6.