I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
Parallel translations
- WEB I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
- KJV I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
- NKJV I beheld the earth, and indeed it was without form, and void; And the heavens, they had no light.
- NASB ¶I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a formless and desolate emptiness; And to the heavens, and they had no light.
- NLT I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was 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
Jeremiah sees the land reduced to formless waste and the heavens darkened. It matters because it portrays judgment as a terrible undoing of creation itself.
Overview
The vision deliberately echoes Genesis 1:2, 'waste and void,' picturing judgment as creation reversed into chaos and darkness. The covenant land returns to a state before order and light. This dreadful un-creation underscores sin's cosmic seriousness and points to the final renewal God will accomplish, when He makes all things new (Genesis 1:2; Revelation 21:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- 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 13:24–25But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- 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.
- Joel 3:15–16The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Gen 1:2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Joel 2:10Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
- Joel 2:30–31I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
- Acts 2:19–20I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
- 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.
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Rev 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Isa 24:19–23The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.
- Jer 9:10I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 4:23 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.