He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Parallel translations
- WEB He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows when to set.
- BSB He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set.
- NKJV He appointed the moon for seasons; The sun knows its going down.
- NASB He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.
- NLT You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set.
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 appointed the moon to mark seasons, and the sun knows its time to set. The heavenly lights serve His ordered governance of time.
Overview
The sun and moon are not objects of worship but obedient servants marking the rhythms of days and seasons. Their faithful courses display God's ordering wisdom. The Maker of the lights is glorified in Christ, who will be the everlasting light when sun and moon are no longer needed (Revelation 21:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 1:14–18And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
- Jer 31:35Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
- Ps 136:7–9To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
- Ps 19:6His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
- Job 38:12Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
- Ps 8:3When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
- Job 31:26–28If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;
- Deut 4:19And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 104:19 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.