Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.
- KJV Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
- BSB You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.
- NASB “And with a pillar of cloud You led them by day, And with a pillar of fire by night To light for them the way In which they were to go.
- NLT You led our ancestors by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night so that they could find their way.
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
God guided Israel with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. It matters because God personally led and lit the way for his people.
Overview
The guiding pillars showed God's constant, visible presence on the journey, never leaving his people to find their own way. God leads as well as redeems. This guiding presence points to Christ, the light of the world (John 8:12), and to the Spirit who leads believers along the way of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 13:21–22Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night:
- Neh 9:19yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go.
- Ps 143:8Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
- Ps 78:14In the daytime he also led them with a cloud, and all night with a light of fire.
- Ps 105:39He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.
- Exod 14:19–20The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them.
- Ps 107:7he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 9:12 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.