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Sunday, June 15th, 2025
Trinity Sunday
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Hebrews 12:12

So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Despondency;   Perseverance;   Resignation;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Endurance;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Faithfulness of God;   Wisdom of God;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Games;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Gestures;   Hebrews;   Perseverance;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Children (Sons) of God;   Hebrews, Epistle to;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Discipline;   Discipline (2);   Hand;   Hebrews Epistle to the;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Hang(ed);   Knee;   Lift;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Feeble Knees;   Gesture;   Hebrews, Epistle to the;   Jehoiada;   Knee;   Straight;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for September 17;   Every Day Light - Devotion for May 6;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore, strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,
King James Version (1611)
Wherefore lift vp the handes which hang downe, and the feeble knees.
King James Version
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
English Standard Version
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
New American Standard Bible
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
New Century Version
You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
Berean Standard Bible
Therefore strengthen your limp hands and weak knees.
Contemporary English Version
Now stand up straight! Stop your knees from shaking
Complete Jewish Bible
So, strengthen your drooping arms, and steady your tottering knees;
Darby Translation
Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the failing knees;
Easy-to-Read Version
You have become weak, so make yourselves strong again.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherfore lift vp your hands which hang downe, and your weake knees,
George Lamsa Translation
Therefore, be courageous and strong;
Good News Translation
Lift up your tired hands, then, and strengthen your trembling knees!
Lexham English Bible
Therefore strengthen your slackened hands and your weakened knees,
Literal Translation
Because of this, "straighten the hands" hanging alongside, "and the enfeebled knees;"
Amplified Bible
So then, strengthen hands that are weak and knees that tremble.
American Standard Version
Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
Bible in Basic English
For this cause let the hands which are hanging down be lifted up, and let the feeble knees be made strong,
Hebrew Names Version
Therefore, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,
International Standard Version
Therefore, strengthen your tired arms and your weak knees,Job 1:4:3-4; Isaiah 35:3;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
Wherefore your relaxed hands and your trembling knees make strong;
Murdock Translation
Wherefore, strengthen ye your relaxed hands, and your tottering knees:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Strayghten vp therfore the handes which were let downe, and the weake knees:
English Revised Version
Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
World English Bible
Therefore, lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees,
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Wherefore Lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees:
Weymouth's New Testament
Therefore strengthen the drooping hands and paralysed knees,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For whiche thing reise ye slowe hondis,
Update Bible Version
Therefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;
Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
New English Translation
Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees ,
New King James Version
Genesis 25:29-34; 27:30-40">[xr] Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees,
New Living Translation
So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.
New Life Bible
So lift up your hands that have been weak. Stand up on your weak legs.
New Revised Standard
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Wherefore, the slackened hands and paralysed knees, restore ye,
Douay-Rheims Bible
Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees:
Revised Standard Version
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Stretch forthe therfore agayne the hondes which were let doune and the weake knees
Young's Literal Translation
Wherefore, the hanging-down hands and the loosened knees set ye up;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Life vp therfore the handes which were let downe, and the weake knees,
Mace New Testament (1729)
Wherefore "strengthen your weak hands and your feeble knees.
Simplified Cowboy Version
So stack another dally on the horn and lift your chin up in order to strengthen those weak knees.

Contextual Overview

4In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God. 12So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it! 14Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God's blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Hebrews 12:3, Hebrews 12:5, Job 4:3, Job 4:4, Isaiah 35:3, Ezekiel 7:17, Ezekiel 21:7, Daniel 5:6, Nahum 2:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:14

Reciprocal: Exodus 17:12 - stayed up his hands Leviticus 11:22 - General Deuteronomy 20:3 - let not Deuteronomy 22:4 - thou shalt surely 1 Samuel 17:32 - Let 1 Samuel 23:16 - strengthened Ezra 10:4 - be of good Nehemiah 6:9 - Their hands Job 35:15 - in great Job 42:11 - they bemoaned Psalms 31:24 - Be of Psalms 109:24 - knees Psalms 119:50 - This Jeremiah 31:8 - them the Ezekiel 34:4 - diseased Micah 4:6 - will I Zephaniah 3:16 - be said Matthew 12:20 - bruised Luke 3:5 - and the crooked Luke 22:32 - strengthen John 11:28 - and called John 14:1 - not John 21:15 - lambs Acts 18:23 - strengthening Acts 20:35 - how that 2 Corinthians 1:4 - that 2 Corinthians 2:7 - ye Colossians 3:16 - teaching 1 Thessalonians 4:18 - Wherefore Hebrews 13:22 - suffer James 5:19 - and one

Cross-References

Genesis 12:8
He moved on from there to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent between Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there and prayed to God .
Genesis 12:10
Then a famine came to the land. Abram went down to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, "Look. We both know that you're a beautiful woman. When the Egyptians see you they're going to say, ‘Aha! That's his wife!' and kill me. But they'll let you live. Do me a favor: tell them you're my sister. Because of you, they'll welcome me and let me live."
Genesis 20:11
Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, ‘Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'"
Genesis 26:7
The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, "She's my sister." He was afraid to say "She's my wife." He was thinking, "These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she's so beautiful."
1 Samuel 27:1
David thought to himself, "Sooner or later, Saul's going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to Philistine country. Saul will count me a lost cause and quit hunting me down in every nook and cranny of Israel. I'll be out of his reach for good."
Proverbs 29:25
The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.
Matthew 10:28
"Don't be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ver. 12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down,.... These words may be considered as spoken to the Hebrews, with respect to themselves; accordingly, the Syriac version reads, "your hands", and "your knees"; who were sluggish, and inactive in prayer, in hearing the word, in attendance on ordinances, in holding fast their profession, and in the performance of those things which adorn it; they were weary and fatigued with weights and burdens of sins and afflictions; and were faint, fearful, and timorous, through distrust of the promised good, because of their persecutions, being in present distress, and in a view of approaching danger, with which they might be surprised, as well as affected with their present afflictions: and then the exhortation to "lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees", is to be active in every duty; to be courageous against every enemy: to bear patiently every burden; to take heart, and be of good cheer under every afflictive providence: or else they may be considered as an exhortation to them with respect to others, which seems to be most agreeable to

Isaiah 35:3 from whence they are taken; and then what is signified in them is done by sympathizing with persons in distress; by speaking comfortably to them, and by bearing their burdens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Wherefore - In view of the facts which have been now stated - that afflictions are sent from God, and are evidences of his paternal watchfulness.

Lift up the hands which hang down - As if from weariness and exhaustion. Renew your courage; make a new effort to bear them. The hands fall by the side when we are exhausted with toil, or worn down by disease; see the notes on Isaiah 35:3, from which place this exhortation is taken.

And the feeble knees - The knees also become enfeebled by long effort, and tremble as if their strength were gone. Courage and resolution may do much, however, to make them firm, and it is to this that the apostle exhorts those to whom he wrote. They were to make every effort to bear up under their trials. The hope of victory will do much to strengthen one almost exhausted in battle; the desire to reach home invigorates the frame of the weary traveler. So it is with the Christian. In persecution, and sickness, and bereavement, he may be ready to sink under his burdens. The hands fall, and the knees tremble, and the heart sinks within us. But confidence in God, and the hope of heaven, and the assurance that all this is for our good, will reinvigorate the enfeebled frame, and enable us to bear what we once supposed would crush us to the dust. A courageous mind braces a feeble body, and hope makes it fresh for new conflicts.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Hebrews 12:12. Wherefore lift up the hands — The apostle refers to Isaiah 35:3. The words are an address to persons almost worn out with sickness and fatigue, whose hands hang down, whose knees shake, and who are totally discouraged. These are exhorted to exert themselves, and take courage, with the assurance that they shall infallibly conquer if they persevere.


 
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