'Darkness' in the Bible

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.

to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.

As the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell on Abram, and suddenly great terror and darkness descended on him.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.”

So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days.

It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. The cloud was there in the darkness, yet it lit up the night. So neither group came near the other all night long.

And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

“The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and thick darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.

All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire.

Your fathers cried out to the Lord, so He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea over them, engulfing them. Your own eyes saw what I did to Egypt. After that, you lived in the wilderness a long time.

He guards the steps of His faithful ones,but the wicked perish in darkness,for a man does not prevail by his own strength.

He made darkness a canopy around Him,a gathering of water and thick clouds.

Lord, You are my lamp;the Lord illuminates my darkness.

Then Solomon said:The Lord said that He would dwell in thick darkness.

Then Solomon said:The Lord said He would dwell in thick darkness,

If only that day had turned to darkness!May God above not care about it,or light shine on it.

May darkness and gloom reclaim it,and a cloud settle over it.May an eclipse of the sun terrify it.

If only darkness had taken that night away!May it not appear among the days of the yearor be listed in the calendar.

They encounter darkness by day,and they grope at noonas if it were night.

before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,never to return.

It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,gloomy and chaotic,where even the light is like the darkness.”

Your life will be brighter than noonday;its darkness will be like the morning.

He reveals mysteries from the darknessand brings the deepest darkness into the light.

They grope around in darkness without light;He makes them stagger like drunken men. >

He doesn’t believe he will return from darkness;he is destined for the sword.

He wanders about for food, saying, “Where is it?”He knows the day of darkness is at hand.

He will not escape from the darkness;flames will wither his shoots,and by the breath of God’s mouth, he will depart.

They turned night into dayand made light seem near in the face of darkness.

If I await Sheol as my home,spread out my bed in darkness,

He is driven from light to darknessand chased from the inhabited world.

He has blocked my way so that I cannot pass through;He has veiled my paths with darkness.

Total darkness is reserved for his treasures.A fire unfanned by human hands will consume him;it will feed on what is left in his tent.

or darkness, so you cannot see,and a flood of water covers you.

Yet you say: “What does God know?Can He judge through thick darkness?

Yet I am not destroyed by the darkness,by the thick darkness that covers my face. >

He laid out the horizon on the surface of the watersat the boundary between light and darkness.

A miner puts an end to the darkness;he probes the deepest recessesfor ore in the gloomy darkness.

when His lamp shone above my head,and I walked through darkness by His light!

But when I hoped for good, evil came;when I looked for light, darkness came.

There is no darkness, no deep darkness,where evildoers can hide themselves.

Teach us what we should say to Him;we cannot prepare our case because of our darkness.

when I made the clouds its garmentand thick darkness its blanket,

Where is the road to the home of light?Do you know where darkness lives,

He made darkness His hiding place,dark storm clouds His canopy around Him.

Lord, You light my lamp;my God illuminates my darkness.

But You have crushed us in a haunt of jackalsand have covered us with deepest darkness.

They do not know or understand;they wander in darkness.All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Will Your wonders be known in the darknessor Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me;darkness is my only friend.

the plague that stalks in darkness,or the pestilence that ravages at noon.

Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

You bring darkness, and it becomes night,when all the forest animals stir.

He sent darkness, and it became dark—for did they not defy His commands?

Others sat in darkness and gloom—prisoners in cruel chains—

He brought them out of darkness and gloomand broke their chains apart.

Light shines in the darkness for the upright.He is gracious, compassionate, and righteous.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me,and the light around me will be night”—

even the darkness is not dark to You.The night shines like the day;darkness and light are alike to You.

For the enemy has pursued me,crushing me to the ground,making me live in darknesslike those long dead.

from those who abandon the right pathsto walk in ways of darkness,

Whoever curses his father or mother—his lamp will go out in deep darkness.

And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

The wise man has eyes in his head,but the fool walks in darkness.Yet I also knew that one fate comes to them both.

What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

For he comes in futility and he goes in darkness, and his name is shrouded in darkness.

Indeed, if a man lives many years,let him rejoice in them all,and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many.All that comes is futile.

Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil,who substitute darkness for lightand light for darkness,who substitute bitter for sweetand sweet for bitter.

On that day they will roar over it,like the roaring of the sea.When one looks at the land,there will be darkness and distress;light will be obscured by clouds.

They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.

The people walking in darknesshave seen a great light;a light has dawnedon those living in the land of darkness.

Woe to those who go to great lengthsto hide their plans from the Lord.They do their works in darkness,and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

On that day the deaf will hearthe words of a document,and out of a deep darknessthe eyes of the blind will see.

in order to open blind eyes,to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.

I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;I will guide them on paths they have not known.I will turn darkness to light in front of themand rough places into level ground.This is what I will do for them,and I will not forsake them.

I will give you the treasures of darknessand riches from secret places,so that you may know that I, Yahweh,the God of Israel call you by your name.

I form light and create darkness,I make success and create disaster;I, Yahweh, do all these things.

I have not spoken in secret,somewhere in a land of darkness.I did not say to the descendants of Jacob:Seek Me in a wasteland.I, Yahweh, speak truthfully;I say what is right.

“Daughter Chaldea,sit in silence and go into darkness.For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms.

saying to the prisoners: Come out,and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.They will feed along the pathways,and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.

Who among you fears the Lord,listening to the voice of His Servant?Who among you walks in darkness,and has no light?Let him trust in the name of Yahweh;let him lean on his God.

and if you offer yourself to the hungry,and satisfy the afflicted one,then your light will shine in the darkness,and your night will be like noonday.

Therefore justice is far from us,and righteousness does not reach us.We hope for light, but there is darkness;for brightness, but we live in the night.

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.

They stopped asking, “Where is the Lordwho brought us from the land of Egypt,who led us through the wilderness,through a land of deserts and ravines,through a land of drought and darkness,a land no one traveled throughand where no one lived?”

Evil generation,pay attention to the word of the Lord!Have I been a wilderness to Israelor a land of dense darkness?Why do My people claim,“We will go where we want;we will no longer come to You”?

Give glory to the Lord your Godbefore He brings darkness,before your feet stumbleon the mountains at dusk.You wait for light,but He brings darkest gloomand makes thick darkness.

He has driven me away and forced me to walkin darkness instead of light.

He has made me dwell in darknesslike those who have been dead for ages.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”

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

a day of darkness and gloom,a day of clouds and dense overcast,like the dawn spreading over the mountains;a great and strong people appears,such as never existed in ages pastand never will againin all the generations to come.

The sun will be turned to darknessand the moon to bloodbefore the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.

He is here:the One who forms the mountains,creates the wind,and reveals His thoughts to man,the One who makes the dawn out of darknessand strides on the heights of the earth.Yahweh, the God of Hosts, is His name.

The One who made the Pleiades and Orion,who turns darkness into dawnand darkens day into night,who summons the waters of the seaand pours them out over the face of the earth—Yahweh is His name.

Woe to you who long for the Day of the Lord!What will the Day of the Lord be for you?It will be darkness and not light.

Won’t the Day of the Lordbe darkness rather than light,even gloom without any brightness in it?

Do not rejoice over me, my enemy!Though I have fallen, I will stand up;though I sit in darkness,the Lord will be my light.

But He will completely destroy Ninevehwith an overwhelming flood,and He will chase His enemies into darkness.