Bible verses about

Bible Verses About Strength

12 verses · ESV & King James Version

Most lists like this one are built to make you feel capable. Verses about mounting up with wings, about doing all things, arranged so a man closes the page more confident than he opened it.

That is not what these passages are doing, and the difference matters on the days you actually need them.

Read them in context and nearly every one was spoken to somebody who had already failed, already run out, or was staring at something plainly beyond him. The strength in question is consistently described as arriving from outside — issued, handed over, made perfect in weakness. Not summoned.

12 verses for when you need them

  1. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

    Joshua 1:9 ESV

    Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

    Joshua 1:9 KJV

    Said to a man taking over from Moses — an impossible act to follow, with a war ahead of him. Notice it is an order, not encouragement. The reason given is not Joshua's competence but God's presence.

  2. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

    1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

    Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

    1 Corinthians 16:13 KJV

    Four short commands at the very end of a long, difficult letter. The third one — “quit you like men,” “act like men” — is a single Greek word meaning to behave with courage. Paul puts it between standing firm and being strong, which is roughly where it belongs.

  3. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

    Ephesians 6:10 ESV

    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

    Ephesians 6:10 KJV

    The sentence that opens the armour passage. Read it carefully and the armour is all borrowed — the strength named here is his, not yours, and everything that follows is equipment you are handed rather than muscle you build.

  4. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

    Isaiah 40:29-31 ESV

    He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

    Isaiah 40:29-31 KJV

    Written to people in exile, not to athletes. It says plainly that young men at their physical peak still fall exhausted — so whatever this strength is, it is not the kind you can train for. The condition attached to it is waiting, which is the least masculine-sounding verb in the passage and the only one given.

  5. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

    Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV

    Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

    Deuteronomy 31:6 KJV

    Moses, near the end of his life, to a nation about to cross without him. Same command as Joshua 1:9 and the same reason — which is worth noticing. Twice, at the hardest transition in the story, the argument for courage is company rather than capability.

  6. fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

    Isaiah 41:10 ESV

    Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

    Isaiah 41:10 KJV

    Three verbs in a row, all his: strengthen, help, uphold. Nothing here asks you to generate anything. If you are the sort of man who reads a promise and immediately looks for his part in it, this verse does not give you one.

  7. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

    Psalm 28:7 ESV

    The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

    Psalm 28:7 KJV

    The order matters: trusted, then helped, then rejoiced. The gladness arrives last and is a response, not a mood he worked himself into first.

  8. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

    2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV

    And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

    2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV

    Paul had asked three times for a specific affliction to be removed. This was the answer, and it is not the one he wanted. The power arrives because of the weakness rather than after it is fixed — which is the exact opposite of how most men are taught to handle a limitation.

  9. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

    Philippians 4:13 ESV

    I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

    Philippians 4:13 KJV

    Almost always quoted on its own, usually about winning something. In the surrounding sentences Paul is describing how he copes with being hungry and having nothing — he says he has learned to be content in plenty and in want. The context makes it more useful, not less.

  10. the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

    Psalm 18:32 ESV

    It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

    Psalm 18:32 KJV

    David's word after years of being hunted. Girded and equipped are both words for gear handed to a man before he goes out — the strength is issued, not owned.

  11. Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

    Nehemiah 8:10 ESV

    Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

    Nehemiah 8:10 KJV

    Said to people weeping because they had just heard the Law read and understood how far short they had fallen. The instruction is to eat well, share with anyone who has nothing, and stop grieving. Sometimes the strengthening thing is a good meal and someone else's need.

  12. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

    Psalm 27:1 ESV

    The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

    Psalm 27:1 KJV

    Two questions rather than two claims. David is not telling himself he is unafraid — he is asking what is actually left to be afraid of, which is a different and more honest exercise.

If you scanned that looking for the one about pushing through, it is not there. The pattern across all twelve runs the other way: the strength is handed over, not generated, and it tends to show up at the point a man has stopped being able to supply his own.

That is worth sitting with if you have spent most of your life being the one who copes. Every one of these was written to someone at the end of something — an exile, a hunted man, a new leader with impossible shoes to fill, an apostle with an affliction that never lifted. None of them were told to try harder.

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.