But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”
- KJV But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
- BSB But if anyone walks at night, he will stumble, because he has no light.”
- NASB But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
- NLT But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have 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
But one who walks at night stumbles because the light is not in him. Walking apart from God's will and light leads to ruin.
Overview
The contrast of night to day pictures the danger of acting outside God's purpose and apart from His light. To lack the inner light is to lack Christ and to stumble in darkness. The verse reinforces that safety lies in walking in God's will and in fellowship with the true Light.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Prov 4:18–19But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- 1 Jn 2:10–11He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.
- Jer 13:16Give glory to Yahweh your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, he turns it into the shadow of death, and makes it gross darkness.
- Jer 20:11But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. They shall be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
- Eccl 2:14The wise man’s eyes are in his head, and the fool walks in darkness — and yet I perceived that one event happens to them all.
- Ps 27:2When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 11:10 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.