What Does the Bible Say About Light?

John 8:12 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

1 John 1:7 ESV / 37 helpful votes

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Matthew 5:14 ESV / 36 helpful votes

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

John 1:5 ESV / 28 helpful votes

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

1 John 1:5 ESV / 27 helpful votes

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Ephesians 5:8 ESV / 26 helpful votes

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 24 helpful votes

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Psalm 119:105 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

John 12:35 ESV / 19 helpful votes

So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

Ephesians 5:14 ESV / 18 helpful votes

For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

James 1:17 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Matthew 5:16 ESV / 17 helpful votes

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Revelation 21:23 ESV / 16 helpful votes

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

John 9:5 ESV / 15 helpful votes

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Matthew 4:16 ESV / 15 helpful votes

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

Psalm 27:1 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

2 Peter 1:19 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,

Psalm 119:130 ESV / 13 helpful votes

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

John 12:36 ESV / 12 helpful votes

While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.

Isaiah 58:8 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.

John 1:7-9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

Luke 11:34 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness.

Isaiah 49:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Ecclesiastes 2:13 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.

Acts 9:3 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

John 3:19-28 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized ...

John 1:4 ESV / 6 helpful votes

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Genesis 1:3-5 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Philippians 2:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes

That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

John 6:48 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I am the bread of life.

Matthew 24:35 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Daniel 2:22 ESV / 5 helpful votes

He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

Isaiah 60:20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Your sun shall no more go down, nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall be ended.

Isaiah 60:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give you light; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

Isaiah 45:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Proverbs 6:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Job 24:12-13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

From out of the city the dying groan, and the soul of the wounded cries for help; yet God charges no one with wrong. “There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths.

Genesis 1:3 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

1 Timothy 6:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Colossians 1:11-12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Acts 26:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

John 14:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 5:35 ESV / 4 helpful votes

He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

John 3:19-21 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 1:4-9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. ...

Luke 16:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

Luke 2:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Matthew 17:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Zechariah 14:6-7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

Micah 7:8-10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look upon her; now she will be trampled down like the mire of the streets.

Lamentations 3:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;

Jeremiah 13:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness.

Isaiah 60:2-3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Isaiah 42:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.

Isaiah 9:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.

Proverbs 20:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.

Job 38:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.

1 Kings 11:36 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name.

Ephesians 5:11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Isaiah 8:20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

Bible Verses about Light