Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees!
Parallel translations
- WEB Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
- KJV Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
- NKJV Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees.
- NASB Strengthen the exhausted, and make the feeble strong.
- NLT With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees.
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
God's people are called to strengthen the weak and encourage the discouraged in light of his coming salvation.
Overview
Isaiah exhorts the community to support those whose hands hang limp and knees are feeble, a call to renewed hope. The New Testament applies these words to Christian perseverance under hardship (Heb. 12:12). The encouragement rests on the certainty of God's promised deliverance, which sustains the faint-hearted.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Heb 12:12Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.
- Luke 22:32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
- Job 4:3–4Surely you have instructed many, and have strengthened their feeble hands.
- Isa 57:14–16And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
- Acts 18:23After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
- Luke 22:43Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.
- Job 16:5But I would encourage you with my mouth, and the consolation of my lips would bring relief.
- Judg 7:11and listen to what they are saying. Then your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outposts where armed men were guarding the camp.
- Isa 52:1–2Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
- Isa 40:1–2“Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God.
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
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 35:3 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.