In 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will roar against them in that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks to the land behold, darkness and distress. The light is darkened in its clouds.
- KJV And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.
- NKJV In that day they will roar against them Like the roaring of the sea. And if one looks to the land, Behold, darkness and sorrow; And the light is darkened by the clouds.
- NASB And it will roar against it on that day like the roaring of the sea. If one looks across to the land, behold, there is darkness and distress; Even the light is darkened by its clouds.
- NLT They will roar over their victims on that day of destruction like the roaring of the sea. If someone looks across the land, only darkness and distress will be seen; even the light will be darkened by clouds.
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
On that day the roar will be like the sea, and the land will be covered in darkness and distress. It ends the chapter on a note of overwhelming gloom and judgment.
Overview
The roaring sea and darkened light picture chaos and despair engulfing the land under judgment. The 'darkness' motif anticipates the contrast with the great light that Isaiah will soon promise (9:2). Thus even this bleak ending sets the stage for the hope of deliverance that God will bring through the coming Messiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 8:22Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
- Joel 2:10Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
- Jer 4:23–28I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Rev 16:10–11And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness, and men began to gnaw their tongues in anguish
- Luke 21:25–26There 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.
- 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.’
- Isa 13:10For 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.
- 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.
- Rev 6:12And 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,
- Jer 6:23They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion.”
- Ps 93:3–4The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Amos 8:9And 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.
- Lam 3:2He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light.
- Jer 50:42They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.
- Exod 10:21–23Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
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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 5:30 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.