On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp.
Parallel translations
- WEB In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.”
- KJV In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: and to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
- BSB On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
- NKJV In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands be weak.
- NLT On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid!
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
In that day Jerusalem will be told not to fear or let its hands grow weak. It matters because God's saving presence replaces fear and discouragement with strength.
Overview
'Don't be afraid' and 'don't let your hands be weak' are calls to courage and renewed strength rooted in God's nearness. The promise counters the despair that judgment had threatened. This assurance anticipates the comfort Christ gives His people, who need not fear because He is with them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Heb 12:12Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,
- Isa 35:3–4Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.
- Eph 3:13Therefore I ask that you may not lose heart at my troubles for you, which are your glory.
- Isa 41:10Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
- Gal 6:9Let us not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up.
- Rev 2:3You have perseverance and have endured for my name’s sake, and have not grown weary.
- Isa 44:2This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- 2 Cor 4:1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint.
- Jer 46:27–28“But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel; for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity. Jacob will return, and will be quiet and at ease. No one will make him afraid.
- Isa 43:1–2But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
- Isa 41:13–14For I, Yahweh your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will help you.’
- Isa 40:9You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength. Lift it up. Don’t be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, your God!”
- Job 4:3Behold, you have instructed many, you have strengthened the weak hands.
- Zech 8:15so again I have thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Don’t be afraid.
- Heb 12:3–5For consider him who has endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that you don’t grow weary, fainting in your souls.
- John 12:12On the next day a great multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
- Isa 54:4“Don’t be afraid; for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded; for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth; and the reproach of your widowhood you shall remember no more.
- Hag 2:4–5Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says Yahweh. ‘Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ says Yahweh, ‘and work, for I am with you,’ says Yahweh of Armies.
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Christ at the center
The day of the LORD gives way to the promise that God himself will be in the midst of his people, rejoicing over them with singing — fulfilled in the saving presence of Christ.
How Zephaniah 3:16 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.