Be careful, then, that the light within you is not darkness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness.
- KJV Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.
- NKJV Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.
- NASB So watch out that the light in you is not darkness.
- NLT Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness.
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
Jesus warns each person to make sure the light within is not actually darkness. Self-deception about one's spiritual state is a real danger.
Overview
There is a sobering possibility that what one trusts as light is in fact darkness. Jesus urges honest self-examination of the heart's true condition. The warning guards against the false assurance of those who reject the true light while assuming they see.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 16:25There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- 2 Pet 1:9But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
- Jas 3:13–17Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
- 1 Cor 1:19–21For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- Rom 1:22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,
- 1 Cor 3:18–20Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- Rev 3:17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
- Isa 5:20–21Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
- Rom 2:19–23if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness,
- 2 Pet 2:18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
- Prov 26:12Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- John 9:39–41Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
- John 7:48–49“Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him?
- Jer 8:8–9How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 11:35 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.