Strengthen the hands that have gone limp, steady the knees that shake! ¹ 

All of their hands will hang limp; their knees will be wet with urine. ¹ 

Your words have supported ¹  those who stumbled, ²  and you have strengthened the knees that gave way. ³ 

Therefore, strengthen ¹  your listless hands and your weak knees, ² 

The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee. Panic will grip them. Pain and anguish will seize them like a woman in labor.

The bows of warriors are shattered, but those who stumble find their strength reinforced.

rock badgers ¹  are creatures with little power, but they make their homes in the crags;

For this reason all hands hang limp, ¹  every human heart loses its courage. ² 

I am numb with pain and severely battered; ¹  I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. ² 

He brought his people ¹  out enriched ²  with silver and gold; none of his tribes stumbled.

But if the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. ¹  So the weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban ²  and the stronger animals to Jacob.

Look, ¹  you have instructed ²  many; you have strengthened ³  feeble hands. ⁴ 

Now the Lord makes this announcement: “Within exactly three years ¹  Moab’s splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be just a few, insignificant survivors left.” ² 

and in the presence of his colleagues ¹  and the army of Samaria ²  he said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they be left to themselves? ³  Will they again offer sacrifice? Will they finish this in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones to life again from piles of dust?”

The people cry out, ¹  “We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear! ²  Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear ¹  when he hears news of their coming. ²  Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

I am so starved my knees shake; ¹  I have turned into skin and bones. ² 

When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone ¹  will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ ²  Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Fathers will hear the hoofbeats of the enemies’ horses, the clatter of their chariots and the rumbling of their wheels. They will not turn back to save their children because they will be paralyzed with fear. ¹ 

On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,