He spread a cloud as a covering and a fire to light up the night.
Parallel translations
- WEB He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.
- KJV He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night.
- NKJV He spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to give light in the night.
- NASB He spread out a cloud as a covering, And fire to illumine by night.
- NLT The Lord spread a cloud above them as a covering and gave them a great fire to light the 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
God spread a cloud to cover them and fire to give light at night. It matters because He personally guided and sheltered His redeemed people.
Overview
The pillar of cloud and fire led Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 13:21-22). The cloud shaded them by day and the fire lit their way by night, signs of God's constant presence. This visible guidance and protection assured Israel that the Lord Himself journeyed with them, as He dwells with His people in Christ and the Spirit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Neh 9:12You 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.
- Ps 78:14He led them with a cloud by day and with a light of fire all night.
- Isa 4:5Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a canopy,
- Exod 14:24At morning watch, however, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud, and He threw their camp into confusion.
- Neh 9:19You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.
- Exod 13:21–22And the LORD went before them in a pillar of cloud to guide their way by day, and in a pillar of fire to give them light by night, so that they could travel by day or night.
- 1 Cor 10:1–2I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
- Num 9:15–22On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 105:39 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.