Isaiah 40:31
What does Isaiah 40:31 mean?
But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
The short answer
Isaiah 40:31 is a promise made to exhausted people. It says that those who "wait for Yahweh" will find their strength renewed — they will soar like eagles, run without growing weary, and walk without fainting. The verse comes at the very end of a chapter addressed to a nation worn down by exile, and it functions as the chapter's closing word of hope.
The key word is "wait." In English, waiting can sound passive, like sitting in a waiting room. But in Isaiah 40, waiting on God means something closer to hopeful expectancy — leaning forward, watching the horizon, trusting that the God who promised to come back with comfort and rescue will actually do it. The whole chapter has been building this case: God is not distant, not forgetful, not too weak to act. Waiting is what faith looks like while the promise is still on its way.
Notice, too, the shape of the promise itself. It moves from soaring to running to walking — from the dramatic to the ordinary. Renewed strength is not only for the mountaintop moments when we "mount up with wings" like eagles. It is also for the long run, and then for the plain, unglamorous walk of daily life, the part where fainting is the real danger. The verse promises endurance for all three.
Just before this, the chapter admits that even the young and strong "utterly fall." Human energy runs out; that is simply true. The verse does not deny weariness — it assumes it. What it offers instead is a strength that comes from outside ourselves, from the everlasting God who, as the chapter says, does not faint and is not weary. Those who wait on him draw on his strength, not their own.
What scholars say
N. T. Wright explains where Isaiah 40's promise comes from — a message of hope, forgiveness, and healing after the horror of exile, announcing that God himself would come back with comfort and rescue — while Greg Garrett pairs the verse with Mary Oliver's famous question about what to do with one precious life, praying for strength to live it to the fullest.
“Chapter 359 359 D oesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? FROM "THE SUMMER DAY" BY MARY OLIVER, 1990 But those who wait for the L ORD 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 This life you have given us is precious, Lord. Grant us the strength to live it to the fullest, and to live for the things that truly matter.”
“That message had echoed through the life of the Jewish people for hundreds of years by the time of John the Baptist , ever since it was first uttered in Isaiah 40. It was part of the great message of hope, of forgiveness, of healing for the nation after the horror of exile . God would at last come back, bringing comfort and rescue. Yes, John is saying; that’s what’s happening now. It’s time to get ready! The king, God himself, is coming back! Get ready for God’s kingdom ! And John’s striking message made everyone sit up and take notice. In today’s language, they saw the blue flashing lights and stopped what they were doing to get ready.”
What it means for you
If you are running on empty, this verse does not tell you to try harder. It tells you where strength actually comes from. Waiting on God — in prayer, in trust, in stubborn hope when circumstances haven't changed yet — is not wasted time. It is how weary people get renewed.
And that renewal has a purpose. As Greg Garrett's reflection suggests, the life you have been given is precious, and this strength is granted so you can live it fully — for the things that truly matter. Some days that will feel like soaring. More often it will simply mean walking on, without fainting. Both are the promise.
Isaiah 40 in context
Isaiah 40 opens one of the great turning points in the Bible. After chapters of judgment, the prophet speaks comfort to a people crushed by exile: their hard service is over, and God himself is coming back to rescue and heal them. The chapter piles up images of God's greatness — he measures the waters in his hand, the nations are like a drop in a bucket — and then asks why his people think he has forgotten them. Verse 31 is the chapter's final answer: even the strongest grow tired, but those who wait on this God will not.