Isaiah 60:2

King James Version

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
For behold, darkness will cover the earthAnd dense gloom the peoples;But Yahweh will rise upon you,And His glory will appear upon you.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.

Bible in Basic English
For truly, the earth will be dark, and the peoples veiled in blackest night; but the Lord will be shining on you, and his glory will be seen among you.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For lo, whyle the darknesse & cloude couereth the earth and the people, the Lorde shall shewe thee light, and his glory shalbe seene in thee.

Darby Translation
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen on thee.

New King James Version
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.

Literal Translation
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But Jehovah shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.

Easy-to-Read Version
Darkness now covers the earth, and the people are in darkness. But the Lord will shine on you, and his Glory will appear over you.

World English Bible
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.

King James Version (1611)
For behold, the darknesse shall couer the earth, and grosse darknesse the people: but the Lord shall arise vpon thee, and his glory shall be seene vpon thee.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For lo, while ye darknesse & cloude couereth the earth & the people, the LORDE shal shewe the light, & his glory shal be sene in the.

Amplified Bible
"For in fact, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness will cover the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you [Jerusalem] And His glory and brilliance will be seen on you.

American Standard Version
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Jehovah will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Update Bible Version
For, look, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.

Webster's Bible Translation
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD will arise upon thee, and his glory will be seen upon thee.

New Century Version
Darkness now covers the earth; deep darkness covers her people. But the Lord shines on you, and people see his glory around you.

New English Translation
For, look, darkness covers the earth and deep darkness covers the nations, but the Lord shines on you; his splendor appears over you.

Contemporary English Version
The earth and its people are covered with darkness, but the glory of the Lord is shining upon you.

Complete Jewish Bible
For although darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the peoples; on you Adonai will rise; over you will be seen his glory.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For beholde, darkenesse shall couer the earth, and grosse darkenesse the people: but the Lord shall arise vpon thee, and his glory shall be seene vpon thee.

George Lamsa Translation
Behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the nations; but the LORD shall shine upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you.

Hebrew Names Version
For, behold, darkness shall cover the eretz, and gross darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but upon thee the LORD will arise, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.

New Living Translation
Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.

New Life Bible
For see, darkness will cover the earth. Much darkness will cover the people. But the Lord will rise upon you, and His shining-greatness will be seen upon you.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and there shall be gross darkness on the nations: but the Lords shall appear upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

English Revised Version
For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Berean Standard Bible
For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you.

New Revised Standard
For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For lo! darkness, covereth the earth, And, deep gloom the peoples, - But, on thee, beameth Yahweh, And, his glory, on thee is seen.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

Lexham English Bible
For look! darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but Yahweh will rise on you, and his glory will appear over you.

English Standard Version
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

New American Standard Bible
"For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you.

Good News Translation
Other nations will be covered by darkness, But on you the light of the Lord will shine; The brightness of his presence will be with you.

Christian Standard Bible®
For look, darkness covers the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the Lord will shine over you, and His glory will appear over you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For lo! derknessis schulen hile the erthe, and myist schal hile puplis; but the Lord schal rise on thee, and his glorie schal be seyn in thee.

Revised Standard Version
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

Young's Literal Translation
For, lo, the darkness doth cover the earth, And thick darkness the peoples, And on thee rise doth Jehovah, And His honour on thee is seen.

Contextual Overview

¹ Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. ² For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. ³ And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. ⁴ Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. ⁵ Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. ⁶ The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord . ⁷ All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. ⁸ Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the darkness: Matthew 15:14, Matthew 23:19, Matthew 23:24, John 8:55, Acts 14:16, Acts 17:23, Acts 17:30, Acts 17:31, Acts 26:18, Romans 1:21-32, Ephesians 4:17-20, 1 Peter 2:9

the Lord: Leviticus 9:23, Numbers 16:19, 1 Kings 8:11, Psalms 80:1, Ezekiel 10:4, Habakkuk 3:3, Habakkuk 3:4, Haggai 2:7-9, Malachi 4:2, John 1:1, John 1:14, John 1:18, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 2 Corinthians 4:4-6, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 1:3

Reciprocal: Psalms 36:9 - in thy Psalms 97:6 - all the Psalms 97:11 - Light Psalms 102:16 - he shall Song of Solomon 2:11 - General Isaiah 9:19 - is the land Isaiah 26:19 - Awake Isaiah 32:3 - General Isaiah 42:16 - I will bring Isaiah 49:9 - to them Isaiah 51:17 - awake Jeremiah 13:16 - gross Matthew 12:18 - and he Luke 4:18 - and Luke 21:28 - look John 12:20 - to worship 2 Corinthians 4:6 - the light Ephesians 5:8 - ye were 2 Timothy 1:10 - now 2 Peter 1:19 - a light Revelation 21:11 - the glory

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people,.... Like that which covered the land of Egypt, when there was light in Goshen: and this may be meant either of the darkness of ignorance, idolatry, superstition, false doctrine, and false worship, that should cover the far greater part of the nations of the world, before this light and glory should break out, as it does at this day; some parts of it being covered with Pagan darkness, others with Mahometan darkness, and others with Papal darkness; and a very small spot it is where the light of the Gospel is, and that clear, but among a very few; for the most part it is not clear nor dark, it is not day nor night; and this is the evening time, in which, ere long, it shall be light; see Zechariah 14:6 or else this may design the distress that the antichristian states will be in, when this light shall break forth; the kingdom of the beast will be full of darkness, distress, and confusion, Revelation 16:10:

but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee: as on the tabernacle of old, Leviticus 9:23 to which the allusion is, Isaiah 4:5 this shows that the light and glory of the Lord, in the preceding verse, design the Lord himself, and his gracious purpose, and the display of his glory in the Gospel now preached; and that it will be visible in the church, and taken notice of by others, and induce them, and even great personages, to come unto it, as follows: or "he shall be seen", or "appear", in "his glory upon thee"; so Ben Melech renders it, supposing that ב "in", is wanting; and so the sense is, that Christ shall appear in the glory of his person and of his offices, and especially his kingly office; and in the glory of his grace and righteousness, in the ministration of his word among his people. The Jews r apply this to the first coming of Christ, which belongs to his spiritual reign.

r T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For behold - Lo, darkness covers the earth. This is designed to turn the attention to the fact that all the rest of the world would be enveloped in deep spiritual night.

Darkness - (See the notes at Isaiah 45:7).

Shall cover the earth - Shall envelope the whole world except where it is illuminated by the gospel. It is needless to say that this was the fact when the Messiah came, and that it is still extensively true also.

And gross darkness - Lowth renders this, ‘A thick vapor.’ Herder. ‘Deep obscurity.’ Septuagint, Γνόφος Gnophos - Cloud, shade, tempest. The Hebrew word (ערפל ‛ărâpel) usually denotes thick cloud, cloudy darkness, gloom; and is often applied to the thick clouds of a tempest Exodus 20:18; Deuteronomy 4:11; Psalms 18:10. It is a word of intenser meaning than that which is rendered ‘darkness’ (השׁך chôshek) and the idea here is, that the nations would be enveloped in a cloud of ignorance and sin so dense and obscure that no light could penetrate it - a description strikingly applicable to the whole pagan world.

But the Lord shall arise upon thee - Like the sun. That is, Yahweh would manifest his perfections to them in a glorious manner.

Shall be seen upon thee - There is more emphatic meaning in the original here than is conveyed in our translation. The Hebrew word (יראה yērâ'eh) does not mean merely that that glory would be visible, but that it would be conspicuous. It would be so bright and luminous that it would be seen afar - like a cloud or column of glory standing over Jerusalem that would be conspicuous to far distant people.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 60:2. Darkness shall cover the earth — This is the state of the Gentile people.