Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, July 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

John 1:5

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blindness;   Darkness;   Jesus, the Christ;   Light;   Wisdom;   Scofield Reference Index - Faith;   Holy Spirit;   Life;   Thompson Chain Reference - Darkness;   Light-Darkness;   Spiritual;   The Topic Concordance - Belief;   Creation;   Giving and Gifts;   Jesus Christ;   Light;   Power;   Rebirth/being Born Again;   Receiving;   Word of God;   World;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Blindness, Spiritual;   Darkness;   Excellency and Glory of Christ, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Flood;   Light;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Anthropomorphism;   Knowledge of God;   Light;   Miracle;   Old Testament in the New Testament, the;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Universalists;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Son of God;   Word, the;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   Jesus Christ;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Christ, Christology;   Colors;   Darkness;   Jesus Christ;   Jesus, Life and Ministry of;   John, the Gospel of;   John, the Letters of;   Lamps, Lighting, Lampstand;   Word;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - John, Gospel of;   Light;   Logos;   Trinity;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Atonement (2);   Beauty;   Creator (Christ as);   Eschatology;   Gospel (2);   Ignorance (2);   Immanence ;   Light;   Light and Darkness;   Man;   Man (2);   Manuscripts;   Night (2);   Obscurity;   Philo;   Pre-Existence;   Providence;   Sanctify, Sanctification;   Truth (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   29 Light Lamp Candle;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Genealogy;   Jesus christ;   Scripture;   Word;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   John, Gospel of;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Tabernacle, the;   Law of Moses, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Apprehend;   Comprehend;   John, Gospel of;   Logos;   Ostraca;   Prologue;   Providence;  

Devotionals:

- Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life - Devotion for October 3;   Every Day Light - Devotion for November 30;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.
King James Version (1611)
And the light shineth in darknesse, and the darknesse comprehended it not.
King James Version
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
English Standard Version
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
New American Standard Bible
And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.
New Century Version
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
Amplified Bible
The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Legacy Standard Bible
And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
Berean Standard Bible
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Contemporary English Version
The light keeps shining in the dark, and darkness has never put it out.
Complete Jewish Bible
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.
Darby Translation
And the light appears in darkness, and the darkness apprehended it not.
Easy-to-Read Version
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not defeated it.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And that light shineth in the darkenesse, and the darkenesse comprehended it not.
George Lamsa Translation
And the same light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.
Good News Translation
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.
Lexham English Bible
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Literal Translation
and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
American Standard Version
And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
Bible in Basic English
And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark.
Hebrew Names Version
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.
International Standard Version
And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.understood it">[fn]John 3:19;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
and the Light himself in the darkness shineth, and the darkness perceived him not.
Murdock Translation
And this light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the lyght shyneth in darkenesse: and the darknesse comprehended it not.
English Revised Version
And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness apprehended it not.
World English Bible
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn't overcome it.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And the light shineth in darkness, but the darkness perceived it not.
Weymouth's New Testament
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and derknessis comprehendiden not it.
Update Bible Version
And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness did not apprehend it.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
New English Translation
And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.
New King James Version
And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend [fn] it.
New Living Translation
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
New Life Bible
The Light shines in the darkness. The darkness has never been able to put out the Light.
New Revised Standard
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, the light, in the darkness, shineth; and, the darkness, thereof, laid not hold.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.
Revised Standard Version
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
and the lyght shyneth in the darcknes but the darcknes comprehended it not.
Young's Literal Translation
and the light in the darkness did shine, and the darkness did not perceive it.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and the light shyneth in the darknesse, and the darknesse comprehended it not.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and the Light shineth in darkness, but the darkness did not receive it.
Simplified Cowboy Version
This light that comes from the Word shines brightly in the darkness. No matter how dark it is, the light will prevail.

Contextual Overview

6There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light. 9The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Life he brings into Light. He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn't even notice. He came to his own people, but they didn't want him. But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves. These are the God-begotten, not blood-begotten, not flesh-begotten, not sex-begotten. 14 The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

John 1:10, John 3:19, John 3:20, John 12:36-40, Job 24:13-17, Proverbs 1:22, Proverbs 1:29, Proverbs 1:30, Romans 1:28, 1 Corinthians 2:14

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:3 - Let Exodus 40:24 - General Zechariah 14:6 - not John 3:3 - he cannot John 12:35 - Walk John 12:46 - am Ephesians 5:8 - but 1 John 2:8 - and the

Cross-References

Genesis 1:31
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.
Genesis 8:22
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."
Psalms 104:20
class="poetry"> O my soul, bless God ! God , my God, how great you are! beautifully, gloriously robed, Dressed up in sunshine, and all heaven stretched out for your tent. You built your palace on the ocean deeps, made a chariot out of clouds and took off on wind-wings. You commandeered winds as messengers, appointed fire and flame as ambassadors. You set earth on a firm foundation so that nothing can shake it, ever. You blanketed earth with ocean, covered the mountains with deep waters; Then you roared and the water ran away— your thunder crash put it to flight. Mountains pushed up, valleys spread out in the places you assigned them. You set boundaries between earth and sea; never again will earth be flooded. You started the springs and rivers, sent them flowing among the hills. All the wild animals now drink their fill, wild donkeys quench their thirst. Along the riverbanks the birds build nests, ravens make their voices heard. You water the mountains from your heavenly cisterns; earth is supplied with plenty of water. You make grass grow for the livestock, hay for the animals that plow the ground. Oh yes, God brings grain from the land, wine to make people happy, Their faces glowing with health, a people well-fed and hearty. God 's trees are well-watered— the Lebanon cedars he planted. Birds build their nests in those trees; look—the stork at home in the treetop. Mountain goats climb about the cliffs; badgers burrow among the rocks. The moon keeps track of the seasons, the sun is in charge of each day. When it's dark and night takes over, all the forest creatures come out. The young lions roar for their prey, clamoring to God for their supper. When the sun comes up, they vanish, lazily stretched out in their dens. Meanwhile, men and women go out to work, busy at their jobs until evening. What a wildly wonderful world, God ! You made it all, with Wisdom at your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations. Oh, look—the deep, wide sea, brimming with fish past counting, sardines and sharks and salmon. Ships plow those waters, and Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them. All the creatures look expectantly to you to give them their meals on time. You come, and they gather around; you open your hand and they eat from it. If you turned your back, they'd die in a minute— Take back your Spirit and they die, revert to original mud; Send out your Spirit and they spring to life— the whole countryside in bloom and blossom. The glory of God —let it last forever! Let God enjoy his creation! He takes one look at earth and triggers an earthquake, points a finger at the mountains, and volcanoes erupt. Oh, let me sing to God all my life long, sing hymns to my God as long as I live! Oh, let my song please him; I'm so pleased to be singing to God . But clear the ground of sinners— no more godless men and women! O my soul, bless God !
1 Corinthians 3:13
But for right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You're acting like infants in relation to Christ, capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I'll nurse you since you don't seem capable of anything more. As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything's going your way? When one of you says, "I'm on Paul's side," and another says, "I'm for Apollos," aren't you being totally infantile? Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working. Or, to put it another way, you are God's house. Using the gift God gave me as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you'll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won't get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn't, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won't be torn out; you'll survive—but just barely. You realize, don't you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God's temple, you can be sure of that. God's temple is sacred—and you, remember, are the temple. Don't fool yourself. Don't think that you can be wise merely by being up-to-date with the times. Be God's fool—that's the path to true wisdom. What the world calls smart, God calls stupid. It's written in Scripture, He exposes the chicanery of the chic. The Master sees through the smoke screens of the know-it-alls. I don't want to hear any of you bragging about yourself or anyone else. Everything is already yours as a gift—Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world, life, death, the present, the future—all of it is yours, and you are privileged to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the light shineth in darkness,.... Which, through sin, came upon the minds of men; who are naturally in the dark about the nature and perfections of God; about sin, and the consequences of it; about Christ, and salvation by him; about the Spirit of God, and his work upon the soul; and about the Scriptures of truth, and the doctrines of the Gospel. Man was created a knowing creature, but, not content with his knowledge, sins, and is banished from the presence of God, the fountain of light; which brought a darkness on him, and his posterity, and which is increased in them by personal iniquity, and in which Satan, the god of this world, has an hand; and sometimes they are left to judicial blindness, and which issues in worse darkness, if grace prevents not: now amidst this darkness there were some remains of the light of nature: with respect to the being of God, which shines in the works of creation and providence and to the worship of God, though very dimly; and to the knowledge of moral good and evil:

and the darkness comprehended it not; or "perceived it not"; as the Syriac version renders it. By the light of nature, and the remains of it, men could not come to any clear and distinct knowledge of the above things; and much less to any knowledge of the true way of salvation: unless, rather by the light should be meant, the light of the Messiah, or of the Gospel shining in the figures, types, and shadows of the law, and in the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament: and yet, such was the darkness upon the minds of men, that they could not very distinctly apprehend it, and much less fully comprehend it, so that there was need of a fresh and fuller revelation; an account of which follows;

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The light shineth in darkness - Darkness, in the Bible, commonly denotes ignorance, guilt, or misery. See Isaiah 9:1-2; Matthew 4:16; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 5:8, Ephesians 5:11; Romans 13:12. It refers here to a wicked and ignorant people. When it is said that “the light shineth in darkness,” it is meant that the Lord Jesus came to teach an ignorant, benighted, and wicked world. This has always been the case. It was so when he sent his prophets; so during his own ministry; and so in every age since. His efforts to enlighten and save men have been like light struggling to penetrate a thick, dense cloud; and though a few rays may pierce the gloom, yet the great mass is still an impenetrable shade.

Comprehended it not - This word means “admitted” it not, or “received” it not. The word “comprehend,” with us, means to “understand.” This is not the meaning of the original. The darkness did not “receive” or “admit” the rays of light; the shades were so thick that the light could not penetrate them; or, to drop the figure, men were so ignorant, so guilty, so debased, that they did not appreciate the value of his instructions; they despised and rejected him. And so it is still. The great mass of men, sunk in sin, will not receive his teachings, and be enlightened and saved by him. Sin always blinds the mind to the beauty and excellency of the character of the Lord Jesus. It indisposes the mind to receive his instructions, just as “darkness” has no affinity for “light;” and if the one exists, the other must be displaced.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse John 1:5. And the light shineth in darkness — By darkness here may be understood:

1. The heathen world, Ephesians 5:8.

2. The Jewish people.

3. The fallen spirit of man.

Comprehended it not. — αυτο ου κατελαβεν, Prevented it not-hindered it not, says Mr. Wakefield, who adds the following judicious note:-"Even in the midst of that darkness of ignorance and idolatry which overspread the world, this light of Divine wisdom was not totally eclipsed: the Jewish nation was a lamp perpetually shining to the surrounding nations; and many bright luminaries, among the heathen, were never wanting in just and worthy notions of the attributes and providence of God's wisdom; which enabled them to shine in some degree, though but as lights in a dark place, 2 Peter 1:19. Compare Acts 14:17; Acts 17:28-29."


 
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