Lectionary Calendar
Monday, September 23rd, 2024
the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

Updated Bible Version

Isaiah 8:22

and they shall look to the earth, and see distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blasphemy;   Colors;   Darkness;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Thompson Chain Reference - Adversity;   Prosperity-Adversity;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Darkness;   Punishment of the Wicked, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   Zebulun;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Darkness;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Isaiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Isaiah, Book of;   Rezin;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Assyria;   Siloah;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Anguish;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be banished into thick darkness.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And beholde there is trouble and darknesse, dymnesse is rounde about him, & he shalbe driuen into darknesse.
Darby Translation
and they will look to the earth; and behold, trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they shall be driven into thick darkness.
New King James Version
Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness.
Literal Translation
And they shall look to the land. And, behold, trouble and darkness and gloom of anguish; and they are driven to darkness.
Easy-to-Read Version
And when the captives turn their faces to the ground, there is only a depressing darkness closing in—the dark sadness of people forced to leave their country.
World English Bible
and they shall look to the earth, and see, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.
King James Version (1611)
And they shall looke vnto the earth: and behold trouble and darkenesse, dimnesse of anguish; and they shall be driuen to darkenesse.
King James Version
And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and beholde, there is trouble and darcknesse, vexacion is rounde aboute him, and the cloude of erroure And out of soch aduersite, shall he not escape.
Amplified Bible
Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.
American Standard Version
and they shall look unto the earth, and, behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall be driven away.
Bible in Basic English
And he will be looking down on the earth, and there will be trouble and dark clouds, black night where there is no seeing.
Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall look to the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.
New English Translation
When one looks out over the land, he sees distress and darkness, gloom and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land.
Contemporary English Version
and on earth, they will find only trouble and darkness, terrible trouble and deepest darkness.
Complete Jewish Bible
or [down] at the earth, they will see only trouble and darkness, anguished gloom and pervasive darkness. But there will be no more gloom for those who are now in anguish. In the past the land of Z'vulun and the land of Naftali were regarded lightly; but in the future he will honor the way to the lake, beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Goyim.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And when he shall looke to the earth, beholde trouble, and darkenes, vexation and anguish, and he is driuen to darkenes.
George Lamsa Translation
And they shall look to the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, tribulation and dimness shall scatter them; but he shall not afflict him who is in distress as in the former time.
Hebrew Names Version
and they shall look to the eretz, and see, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
or look unto the earth, behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and outspread thick darkness. For is there no gloom to her that was stedfast? Now the former hath lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but the latter hath dealt a more grievous blow by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in the district of the nations.
New Living Translation
and down at the earth, but wherever they look, there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness.
New Life Bible
Then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness and suffering and will be driven out into darkness.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and they shall look on the earth below, and behold severe distress, and darkness, affliction, and anguish, and darkness so that one cannot see; and he that is in anguish shall not be distressed only for a time.
English Revised Version
and they shall look unto the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness they shall be driven away.
Berean Standard Bible
Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.
New Revised Standard
or they will look to the earth, but will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And unto the land, shall they look hard, And lo! distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, driven away!
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress.
Lexham English Bible
or look to the earth. But look! Distress and darkness, the gloom of affliction! And it will be thrust into darkness!
English Standard Version
And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
New American Standard Bible
Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.
New Century Version
They will look around them at their land and see only trouble, darkness, and awful gloom. And they will be forced into the darkness.
Good News Translation
or stare at the ground, but they will see nothing but trouble and darkness, terrifying darkness into which they are being driven.
Christian Standard Bible®
They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And it schal loke to the erthe, and lo! tribulacioun, and derknessis, and vnbyndyng, ether discoumfort, and angwisch, and myist pursuynge; and it schal not mow fle awei fro his angwisch.
Revised Standard Version
and they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be thrust into thick darkness.
Young's Literal Translation
And unto the land it looketh attentively, And lo, adversity and darkness! -- Dimness, distress, and thick darkness is driven away, But not the dimness for which she is in distress!

Contextual Overview

16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait for Yahweh, that hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Look, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of hosts, who dwells in mount Zion. 19 And when they shall say to you, Seek to the spiritists and to the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek to their God? on behalf of the living [should they seek] to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony! if they don't speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them. 21 And they shall pass through it, very distressed and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse by their king and by their God, and turn their faces upward: 22 and they shall look to the earth, and see distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and into thick darkness [they shall be] driven away.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

look: Isaiah 5:30, Isaiah 9:1, 2 Chronicles 15:5, 2 Chronicles 15:6, Jeremiah 13:16, Jeremiah 30:6, Jeremiah 30:7, Amos 5:18-20, Zephaniah 1:14, Zephaniah 1:15, Matthew 8:12, Matthew 24:29, Luke 21:25, Luke 21:26, Jude 1:13

driven to darkness: Job 18:18, Proverbs 14:32, Jeremiah 23:12, Matthew 22:13

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:14 - driven Exodus 10:21 - darkness Job 15:22 - He believeth not Job 20:26 - darkness Job 22:11 - darkness Job 38:15 - from Psalms 88:12 - dark Proverbs 19:3 - fretteth Isaiah 9:19 - is the land Isaiah 24:11 - all joy Isaiah 50:11 - ye shall Joel 2:2 - A day of darkness Nahum 1:8 - darkness Revelation 16:10 - full

Cross-References

Genesis 8:8
And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;
Genesis 8:9
but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in to him into the ark.
Genesis 8:11
and the dove came in to him at evening; and, look, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Genesis 8:12
And he stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she did not return again to him anymore.
Genesis 8:16
Go forth from the ark, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.
Genesis 8:17
Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, both birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth.
Genesis 8:20
And Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.
Genesis 45:6
For these two years has the famine been in the land: and there are yet five years, in which there shall be neither plowing nor harvest.
Exodus 34:21
Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest: in plowing time and in harvest you shall rest.
Jeremiah 5:24
Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Yahweh our God, that gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall look unto the earth,.... As persons in distress, upwards and downwards, backwards and forwards, on the right hand and on the left, particularly into the land of Judea; a land that used to flow with milk and honey, a land of light, plenty, and prosperity:

and behold trouble and darkness; adversity, and miseries of all kinds, expressed by a variety of words; and even words fail to express the tribulation of these times, which were such as were not from the beginning of the world, Matthew 24:22:

dimness of anguish; or "fleeing from affliction" e, multitudes everywhere fleeing from one place to another, to avoid the calamities coming upon them, Matthew 24:16:

and [they shall be] driven to darkness; when they endeavour to escape one calamity, they shall be driven and fall into another; the whole land shall be full of nothing else.

e מעוף a עוף "volare", Forerius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they shall look unto the earth - They would look upward and find no relief, and then in despair cast their eyes to the earth to obtain help there. Yet equally in vain. The whole image is one of intense anguish brought on the nation for leaving the counselor the true God.

And behold ... - see the note at Isaiah 5:30.

Trouble - Anguish, oppression, צרה tsârâh, from צור tsûr, to oppress, to straiten, to afflict. This is a remarkable instance of the prophet Isaiah’s manner - of a rapid, impetuous, and bold style of utterance. He accumulates images; piles words on each other; and deepens the anxiety by each additional word, until we almost feel that we are enveloped by the gloom, and see objects of terror and alarm on every side.

Dimness of anguish - These words should be kept separate in the translation - צוּקה מעוּף me‛ûp tsûqâh, “darkness, oppression” - accumulated epithets to heighten the gloom and terror of the scene.

And they shall be driven to darkness - Hebrew, מנדה ואפלה va'ăpēlâh menudāch a darkness that is driven, or that is urged upon itself; that becomes condensed, accumulated, until it becomes terrible and frightful. The idea is that of a driving tempest, or an involving obscurity (מנדה menudāch from נדה nâdâh, to push, thrust, impel, urge on, as a driving storm). The prophet has thus accumulated every possible idea of gloom and obscurity, and probably there is not anywhere a more graphic description of gathering darkness and trouble, and of the consternation of those involved in it, than this. So fearful and terrific are the judgments of God when he comes forth to punish people!


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile