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Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Isaiah 58:8 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you; and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard.
  • KJV Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
  • NKJV Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
  • NASB “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will spring up quickly; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
  • NLT “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

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

When devotion bears fruit in justice and mercy, light, healing, righteousness, and God's protecting glory follow. Obedient love opens the way to God's blessing and presence.

Overview

God promises that true fasting yields breaking light, swift healing, righteousness leading the way, and His glory as a rear guard. These blessings flow from a life of compassion, not ritual. The imagery of light and glory points beyond Israel to Christ, the light of the world, whose people walk in His righteousness and are kept by His presence.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 20

  • Isa 52:12For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
  • Jer 33:6Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
  • Ps 37:6He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.
  • Jer 30:17But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
  • Ps 85:13Righteousness will go before Him to prepare the way for His steps.
  • Mal 4:2“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
  • Isa 58:10–11and 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.
  • Ps 97:11Light shines on the righteous, gladness on the upright in heart.
  • Acts 10:35but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
  • Exod 14:19And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
  • Prov 4:18The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
  • Job 11:17Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning.
  • Isa 57:18I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will guide him and restore comfort to him and his mourners,
  • Hos 14:4I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.
  • Hos 6:2–3After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
  • Isa 30:26The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wounds He has inflicted.
  • Ps 112:4Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous.
  • Matt 13:15For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
  • Acts 10:4Cornelius stared at him in fear and asked, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have ascended as a memorial offering before God.
  • Acts 10:31and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been remembered before God.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 58:8YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 58:8 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.