Joshua 1:9

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Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (NKJV)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and courageous; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

Joshua 1:9 (KJV)

This is my command — be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (NLT)

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 I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (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

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified or dismayed (intimidated), for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (AMP)

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

Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous, and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (AMPC)

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

Haven't I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don't be timid; don't get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.

Joshua 1:9 (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

Courage Is a Command, Which Means It Is Possible

God opens this verse with a pointed question: "Have I not commanded you?" This is not a soft encouragement or a gentle suggestion. It is a command. And the fact that God commands courage is itself a declaration that courage is available to Joshua. God does not command what He does not also supply. He does not tell Joshua to be strong and courageous while withholding the strength and courage needed to obey. The command is paired with the reason: the Lord your God is with you. The courage comes from the presence. You do not manufacture strength from inside yourself. You draw it from the one who walks with you.

The Source of Courage Is Presence, Not Personality

Joshua was not bold by nature. He had spent forty years in the shadow of Moses, one of the most remarkable leaders in all of Israel's history. He was inheriting an impossible assignment and leading a people who had already failed once before at the same border. God does not tell Joshua to dig deep into his own reserves of strength. He tells him that the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The courage God gives is not based on the size of what you are facing. It is based on who is with you. The Promised Land was just as large and its people just as formidable after God spoke these words. What changed was Joshua's perspective on what he was walking into and who was walking with him.

In the New Covenant, the believer has a dimension of God's presence that Joshua did not yet have. The Holy Spirit does not only walk alongside the believer. He lives within. Jesus promised in John 14:16-17 that the Spirit of truth would be with His disciples forever and would be in them. When God says He will be with you wherever you go, that promise has been expanded and deepened in the New Covenant. You carry the presence with you. Hebrews 13:5-6 quotes this same promise and applies it directly to believers: God has said He will never leave you nor forsake you, so you can boldly say the Lord is your helper, and you will not fear. The command to be strong and courageous is just as much for you as it was for Joshua, and the basis for it is even greater.

Application for Your Life

Treat Courage as a Choice, Not a Feeling

Joshua 1:9 does not say "when you feel courageous, go." It says be strong and courageous. The courage precedes the feeling. Obedience to God's command to be courageous often looks like taking the step before the fear is gone. Fear is not the opposite of faith. Acting in the presence of fear, with your confidence anchored in God's presence rather than your emotional state, is what courage looks like in practice. God did not promise Joshua that the Canaanites would be small or the battles would be easy. He promised that He would be there. That is enough to move forward on.

Remind Yourself Who Is With You Before You Look at What Is Ahead

The order of Joshua 1:9 is important. God identifies His presence first, then tells Joshua not to fear. The antidote to fear is not a better assessment of your circumstances. It is a clearer vision of who is with you. Before you evaluate the obstacle, remind yourself of the one who goes with you. This is a practice, not just a concept. When fear rises, speak it out: the Lord my God is with me wherever I go. Let the presence of God become the first thing you look to in any difficult situation rather than the last thing you remember after you have already spent time being afraid.

Prayer Based on This Verse

Father, I receive Your command and Your promise together. You have told me to be strong and courageous, and I know You do not command what You do not also supply. I choose courage today, not because I feel fearless but because You are with me. Wherever I am going, You are already there. I am not walking into anything alone. I am not facing anything You have not accounted for. Let the awareness of Your presence be greater than the size of what I am facing. I will not be afraid. I will not be dismayed. You are with me every step I take. In Jesus name. Amen.