Devine Scripture

Hebrews 12:13

What does Hebrews 12:13 mean?

A plain-English look at Hebrews 12:13 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Hebrews 12:13 means

Believers are told to make straight paths for their feet, so that what is lame is not dislocated but healed. The picture is of a track cleared of obstacles, guiding weak or injured runners safely. Straight paths mean choices and practices that remove needless stumbling blocks—clarity, integrity, and consistency in the Christian walk. The goal is restoration, not further harm. Our manner of life affects others; a crooked path can twist the weak out of the way, while a straight one supports healing. Therefore, we must choose ways that help the faltering keep moving toward wholeness in God, aligning our steps with His wisdom and making it easier, not harder, to endure.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned out of the way, but rather be healed.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And make straight roads for your feet, so that the feeble may not be turned out of the way, but may be made strong.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and straight paths make for your feet, that that which is lame may not be turned aside, but rather be healed;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And make straight steps with your feet: that no one, halting, may go out of the way; but rather be healed.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and make straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be not turned aside; but that rather it may be healed.

Context

This follows the call to strengthen weary limbs (v. 12) and adds a communal, pastoral concern: set patterns that help the weak heal. It prepares for the broader community exhortations in verses 14–15 about peace, sanctification, and vigilance against bitterness, and for the warning examples in verses 16–17. The flow stresses that endurance is not purely individual; the church’s pathways—its teaching, discipline, and mutual care—either aid healing or cause further injury.

v.12Wherefore lift up the hands that hang down, and the palsied knees;

v.13This passage

v.14Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord:

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Galatians 6:1

    Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

  • Isaiah 35:8

    And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for the redeemed: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein.

  • Isaiah 35:3

    Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

  • Isaiah 40:3

    The voice of one that crieth, Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of Jehovah; make level in the desert a highway for our God.

  • James 5:16

    Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working.

  • Isaiah 42:16

    And I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; in paths that they know not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things will I do, and I will not forsake them.

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