Bible verses about

Bible Verses About Courage

12 verses · ESV & King James Version

Ask most men what courage is and you will get some version of not being afraid. The man who walks into the room unbothered. The one whose hands are steady.

That definition is almost entirely absent from Scripture.

What you find instead is fear treated as a given — assumed, named out loud, sometimes by the bravest people in the story — and the instruction given anyway. Twelve passages below, and in nearly every one the reason to be courageous has nothing to do with the man’s own assessment of his chances.

12 verses for when you need them

  1. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!

    Psalm 27:14 ESV

    Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

    Psalm 27:14 KJV

    The instruction is repeated at both ends of the verse, and it is wait. Courage sits in the middle of it. Whatever this is, it is not the courage of the man who moves first.

  2. Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.

    1 Chronicles 28:20 ESV

    And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

    1 Chronicles 28:20 KJV

    A father handing his son a job he will not live to see finished. Note the three words in the middle: “and do it.” The courage is not a feeling to work up beforehand — it is attached directly to starting.

  3. for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

    2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

    For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

    2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

    Three things named, and only one of them is force. Power sits alongside love and a governed mind — which rules out the version of courage that is really just nerve.

  4. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.

    Joshua 1:7 ESV

    Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

    Joshua 1:7 KJV

    What the courage is for is unexpected. Joshua has a war in front of him, and the thing he is told to be very courageous about is keeping to instructions. Holding a line under pressure to drift is treated here as the harder task.

  5. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

    Isaiah 43:2 ESV

    When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

    Isaiah 43:2 KJV

    Read the preposition. It is through, three times — not around, not instead of. Nothing here promises the water will not be there.

  6. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

    Matthew 14:27 ESV

    But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

    Matthew 14:27 KJV

    Said to experienced fishermen in a storm they could not handle. The reassurance is not about the weather and offers no assessment of their odds — it is simply who is there.

  7. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

    John 16:33 ESV

    These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

    John 16:33 KJV

    Trouble is stated as a certainty, not a risk. The good cheer is not offered instead of the trouble but alongside it, and the reason given is in the past tense — something already done rather than something you must now achieve.

  8. The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

    Proverbs 28:1 ESV

    The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

    Proverbs 28:1 KJV

    A proverb about a clear conscience, not a strong personality. The man running is running from nothing — the boldness on the other side comes from having nothing behind him that needs hiding.

  9. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

    Psalm 56:3 ESV

    What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

    Psalm 56:3 KJV

    Ten words that concede the whole argument: he is afraid, and says so, and does the next thing anyway. Scripture nowhere treats fear as the disqualifier men tend to treat it as.

  10. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.

    2 Chronicles 32:7 ESV

    Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:

    2 Chronicles 32:7 KJV

    Hezekiah speaking with the largest army in the world outside his walls. He does not dispute the numbers. He argues that the count is wrong because it leaves someone out.

  11. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!

    Psalm 31:24 ESV

    Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

    Psalm 31:24 KJV

    The strengthening follows the courage rather than preceding it. You are not asked to feel equipped first — the order runs the other way, which is inconvenient if you were waiting to feel ready.

  12. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

    Acts 4:13 ESV

    Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

    Acts 4:13 KJV

    Ordinary men, no training, standing in front of the council that had just executed their teacher. What the observers concluded was not that these two were unusually brave but that they had been in particular company.

There is a version of courage most men are sold, and it is essentially the absence of fear — the man who does not flinch. Almost nothing in this list describes that.

What these passages describe is a man who is afraid and proceeds. David says so in ten words. Hezekiah does not argue that the Assyrian army is small. Jesus tells his friends the trouble is guaranteed. In every case the fear is granted and the command is given anyway, which is only possible because the reason for the courage sits outside the man being commanded.

If you have been waiting to feel ready, Psalm 31:24 puts the order the other way round: the strengthening comes after.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.