The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Parallel translations
- WEB The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
- KJV The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
- NKJV The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
- NASB The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
- NLT The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living.
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
The night is nearly over and day is near; cast off works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Overview
Paul uses the imagery of night yielding to dawn to depict the believer's situation between Christ's first and second comings. The summons is to discard sinful deeds ('works of darkness') and take up the protective conduct of those who belong to the light. This is a call to active, vigilant holiness in light of Christ's nearness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ezek 18:31–32Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Eph 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
- 2 Cor 6:7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;
- Col 3:8–17But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
- Eph 6:11–18Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.
- Jas 1:21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.
- Rom 13:14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
- Eph 4:22to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
- Isa 30:22So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
- 1 Th 5:5–8For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
- John 3:19–21And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.
- 1 Pet 2:1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.
- 1 Jn 2:8–9Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.
- 1 Jn 1:5–7And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
- Song 2:17Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
- Rev 1:3Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
- Job 24:14–17When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.
- Isa 2:20In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.
- Rev 22:10Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of prophecy in this book, because the time is near.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 13:12 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.