and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will go forth in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.
Parallel translations
- WEB and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday;
- KJV And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
- NKJV If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
- NASB And if you offer yourself to the hungry And satisfy the need of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday.
- NLT Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
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
Pouring oneself out for the hungry and afflicted causes one's light to rise even in darkness. Self-giving love brings spiritual brightness from God.
Overview
God promises that those who spend themselves for the hungry and afflicted will find their light rising in darkness and their gloom becoming like noonday. Compassion toward the needy is met with God's transforming blessing. Such radiance reflects the character of Christ, the light of the world, in whom His people shine as they love others sacrificially.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 11:24–25One gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds what is right, only to become poor.
- Isa 58:7–8Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your home, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
- Isa 42:16I will lead the blind by a way they did not know; I will guide them on unfamiliar paths. I will turn darkness into light before them and rough places into level ground. These things I will do for them, and I will not forsake them.
- Ps 37:6He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.
- Job 11:17Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
- Deut 15:7–10If there is a poor man among your brothers within any of the gates in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, then you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand from your poor brother.
- Luke 18:22On hearing this, Jesus told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
- Prov 14:31Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- Ps 112:5–9It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.
- Prov 28:27Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need, but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.
- Isa 29:18On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of the deep darkness the eyes of the blind will see.
- Ps 41:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Blessed is the one who cares for the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of trouble.
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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 58:10 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
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