Bible Strands
Isaiah 35:4
Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah, speaking on God's behalf, addresses a community of the afflicted at the threshold of restoration, following the judgment of chapter 34. The command is directed specifically at those whose hearts are "hasty" — restless, panicked, unable to wait.
The words — נִמְהֲרֵי־לֵב (nimharei-lev), "hasty of heart" (H4116), is the Hebrew behind what English versions render "anxious" or "faint-hearted"; it conveys a restlessness of pace, not merely a feeling.
The thread — The "do not fear / be strong" formula recurs in Isaiah 41:10 and Zephaniah 3:16, and the patience-until-God's-coming motif connects to James 5:7.
Why it lands — The verse demands that courage and trust are not the same thing: you are told to be strong even while the ground for your strength is still future. It asks the reader to act in the gap between command and fulfillment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
Cross-references
- James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
- Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
- Zephaniah 3:16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
- Isaiah 34:8 For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
- Haggai 2:4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- 1 Chronicles 28:20 David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you before all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.
- Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our King. It is He who will save us.
- Isaiah 61:2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn,
- Isaiah 25:9 And in that day it will be said, “Surely this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation.”