Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Parallel translations
- WEB and make straight paths for your feet, so that which is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
- KJV And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
- NKJV and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
- NASB and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
- NLT Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.
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
Make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be put out of joint but healed. Live in a way that helps the weak recover rather than stumble.
Overview
Drawing on Proverbs 4:26, the author urges a straight, steady course in the Christian life. Such faithfulness protects those who are spiritually "lame"—the weak and wavering—so that they are restored rather than driven further astray. The pursuit of holiness is not merely personal but considers the good of fellow believers, helping them toward healing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 4:26–27Make a level path for your feet, and all your ways will be sure.
- Gal 6:1Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
- Isa 35:3Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!
- Isa 40:3–4A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
- Isa 35:6Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
- Jude 1:22–23And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt;
- Jas 5:16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Luke 3:5Every valley shall be filled in, and every mountain and hill made low. The crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways smooth.
- Jer 31:8–9Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
- Isa 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- Isa 35:8–10And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Jer 18:15Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
- Isa 58:12Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 12:13 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.