Every hand will go limp, and every knee will turn to water.
Parallel translations
- WEB All hands will be feeble, and all knees will be weak as water.
- KJV All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
- NKJV Every hand will be feeble, And every knee will be as weak as water.
- NASB All hands will hang limp, and all knees will drip with water.
- NLT Their hands will hang limp, their knees will be weak as water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All hands will hang limp and every knee turn weak as water. Terror drains the people of strength.
Overview
The Lord describes the physical collapse of courage: feeble hands and knees weak as water before the coming terror. The picture conveys utter helplessness in the face of God's judgment. When God removes a people's strength, human power is exposed as nothing, underscoring dependence on the only One who can truly save.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ezek 21:7And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Heb 12:12Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.
- Isa 13:7–8Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.
- Ezek 22:14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
- Jer 6:24We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 7:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.