For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
- KJV For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
- NKJV For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not give their light; The sun will be darkened in its going forth, And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
- NASB For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.
- NLT The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The sun, moon, and stars will withhold their light in the day of judgment. Cosmic darkness signals God's overturning of the proud order.
Overview
Darkened heavenly lights are a standard biblical image for the day of the Lord and the collapse of a world under judgment. Jesus uses this very language to describe cataclysms accompanying his coming (Matt. 24:29). Babylon's fall thus becomes a window onto the final, cosmic day of the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Joel 2:31The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Matt 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
- Mark 13:24But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Ezek 32:7–8When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
- Joel 3:15The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Rev 8:12Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.
- Luke 21:25There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.
- Isa 24:23The moon will be confounded and the sun will be ashamed; for the LORD of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His elders with great glory.
- Rev 6:12–14And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,
- Joel 2:10Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
- Isa 5:30In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
- Zeph 1:15–16That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
- Isa 24:21In that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven above and the kings of the earth below.
- Amos 8:9–10And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 13:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.