Isaiah 40:31

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But those who wait on 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 40:31 (NKJV)

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

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 40:31 (KJV)

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)

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 40:31 (ESV)

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:31 (NASB)

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.

Isaiah 40:31 (AMP)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Isaiah 40:31 (AMPC)

Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

Isaiah 40:31 (MSG)

Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

New Covenant Meaning

Qavah: Waiting Is Not Passive. It Is Expectant Tension.

The Hebrew word translated "wait" is qavah, which carries the sense of twisting or binding together, like strands of a rope braided under tension. It is used in Joshua 2:18 for the scarlet cord Rahab was told to bind in her window, a word of expectant holding on. Qavah is not passive waiting, sitting quietly hoping something happens. It is expectant, oriented, active waiting, the way a drawn bow holds energy in readiness. Those who qavah on the Lord are not passive. They are holding tension toward Him, expecting Him to act.

Chalaph: The Exchange Model of Renewal

The word translated "renew" or "exchange" is chalaph, meaning to change, to pass on through, to exchange, to renew by substitution. It appears in Job 14:7 of a tree that is cut down sprouting again and in Isaiah 9:10 of replacing fallen stone with dressed stone. The image in Isaiah 40:31 is not that you top up your own strength like a battery being recharged. It is that you exchange your spent strength for His. You bring your depletion and He replaces it with His supply. The renewal comes from an exchange, not from self-generated effort.

The verse describes three modes of movement: mounting up (soaring), running, and walking, and assigns the same promise to each: not weary, not faint. It is significant that walking is included. Most motivational use of this verse focuses on the eagle image. But the promise covers the ordinary, daily, ordinary forward movement of a regular week. You do not have to be soaring to receive strength from God. The one who is simply walking, just getting through today, also walks and does not faint. All paces are covered.

Application for Your Life

Renewal Comes Through Waiting, Not Through More Effort

The counterintuitive implication of Isaiah 40:31 is that the path to renewed strength runs through waiting on God, not through increased activity. Spiritual and physical depletion in believers is often met with more effort: more discipline, more prayer, more service. But the mechanism described here is exchange. You bring your weariness to God and wait on Him, and what comes back is His strength in place of yours. The waiting is not laziness. It is the posture that makes the exchange possible.

Context: God Addresses Those Who Say He Has Forgotten Them

Isaiah 40:31 does not exist in isolation. Verse 27 records the complaint God is responding to: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God." God's answer begins in verse 28 with a reminder of His power and understanding, and concludes in verse 31 with the promise. The people who receive renewed strength are the exhausted, the dismissed, the ones who feel overlooked. This is a word given specifically to people who are not sure God sees them. He does. And He gives strength to the weary.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I am waiting on You right now. Not passive. Not resigned. Expectant. Like a drawn bow held toward You. I bring my weariness to You today. Whatever has depleted me, the long season, the unanswered question, the effort that feels like it has produced nothing, I lay it down. I am not topping up my own reserves. I am exchanging what I have for what You give. Renew my strength. Let me mount up. Let me run and not grow weary. And in the ordinary days when I am just walking, let me walk and not faint. You give power to the weak and strength to those who have none. I receive that today. In Jesus' name. Amen.