“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.
Parallel translations
- WEB You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden.
- KJV Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
- BSB You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
- NKJV “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
- NASB “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
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
Disciples are the light of the world, like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. It calls believers to visible, public witness.
Overview
Jesus, who is Himself the light of the world, here calls His people to reflect that light before others. Like a hilltop city, the community of disciples is meant to be seen, not concealed. Their visible godliness bears witness to God and draws attention to Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Phil 2:15that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without defect in the middle of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world,
- John 8:12Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
- Eph 5:8–14For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- 1 Th 5:5You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness,
- Prov 4:18But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.
- John 12:36While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.” Jesus said these things, and he departed and hid himself from them.
- Rom 2:19–20and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
- 2 Cor 6:14Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
- John 5:35He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
- Rev 21:14–27The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
- Rev 1:20the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies.
- Gen 11:4–8They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 5:14 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.