'Fear' in the Bible

“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,That extends its roots by a streamAnd will not fear when the heat comes;But its leaves will be green,And it will not be anxious in a year of droughtNor cease to yield fruit.

Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves.”

‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the Lord,‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel;For behold, I will save you from afarAnd your offspring from the land of their captivity.And Jacob will return and will be quiet and at ease,And no one will make him afraid.

and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them.

I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.

It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

When they had heard all the words, they turned in fear one to another and said to Baruch, “We will surely report all these words to the king.”

“But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear,Nor be dismayed, O Israel!For, see, I am going to save you from afar,And your descendants from the land of their captivity;And Jacob will return and be undisturbedAnd secure, with no one making him tremble.

“O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the Lord,“For I am with you.For I will make a full end of all the nationsWhere I have driven you,Yet I will not make a full end of you;But I will correct you properlyAnd by no means leave you unpunished.”

You drew near when I called on You;You said, “Do not fear!”

And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house.

‘Thus says the Lord God,“I will also destroy the idolsAnd make the images cease from Memphis.And there will no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt;And I will put fear in the land of Egypt.

I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men are to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel;For He is the living God and enduring forever,And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,And His dominion will be forever.

The inhabitants of Samaria will fearFor the calf of Beth-aven.Indeed, its people will mourn for it,And its idolatrous priests will cry out over it,Over its glory, since it has departed from it.

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad,For the Lord has done great things.

Do not fear, beasts of the field,For the pastures of the wilderness have turned green,For the tree has borne its fruit,The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full.

A lion has roared! Who will not fear?The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?

He said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

The voice of the Lord will call to the city—And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:“Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?

Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear.O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years,In the midst of the years make it known;In wrath remember mercy.

The Lord has taken away His judgments against you,He has cleared away your enemies.The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;You will fear disaster no more.

‘As for the promise which I made you when you came out of Egypt, My Spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!’

It will come about that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you that you may become a blessing. Do not fear; let your hands be strong.’

so I have again purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear!

“Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.

“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear.

But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.”

The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.

“And His mercy is upon generation after generationToward those who fear Him.

Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea.

To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,Might serve Him without fear,

and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned.

But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.

For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,

men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?

Yet no one was speaking openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.”

And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last; and great fear came over all who heard of it.

And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things.

‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said,“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

“Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent.

And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,

This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.

His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.

It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain.

I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.

and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;

and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;

For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.

And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;

Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.

These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted;

save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.

And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?For You alone are holy;For all the nations will come and worship before You,For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”

standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’

The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning,

And a voice came from the throne, saying,“Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”