I clothe the heavens in black and make sackcloth their covering.”
Parallel translations
- WEB I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.”
- KJV I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.
- NKJV I clothe the heavens with blackness, And I make sackcloth their covering.”
- NASB “I clothe the heavens with blackness, And make sackcloth their covering.”
- NLT I dress the skies in darkness, covering them with clothes of mourning.”
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
God can clothe the heavens in darkness and mourning, displaying His sovereign control over creation.
Overview
Continuing His self-defense of power (v.2), God shows He governs the skies, darkening them as a sign of judgment or mourning. Creation itself answers to His word. This sovereignty over heaven and earth belongs to Christ as well, through whom and for whom all things were made (Colossians 1:16) and at whose death the sky went dark (Luke 23:44-45).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 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,
- Ps 18:11–12He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
- Exod 10:21Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that darkness may spread over the land of Egypt—a palpable darkness.”
- Matt 27:45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 50:3 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.