Jeremiah 13:16
Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Study Note
Study Note
The exhortation to give glory to God 'before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains' presents repentance as a final window of opportunity before inevitable judgment falls. The 'dark mountains' evoke both the literal danger of nocturnal travel in ancient Judah and the metaphorical blindness of spiritual apostasy. The lament imagery of turning 'the shadow of death' and making the land 'gross darkness' draws on the cosmic-darkness motif used elsewhere for covenant judgment (Amos 5:18–20; Joel 2:2), presenting national catastrophe as cosmic disorder rooted in moral failure.
Other Translations
Give glory to Jehovah your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness.
Give ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed <FI>it<Fi> for thick darkness.
Give glory to the Lord your God, before he makes it dark, and before your feet are slipping on the dark mountains, and, while you are looking for a light, he makes it into deep dark, into black night.
Cross References
And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land …
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make …
Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall …
Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; …
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw …
While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after …