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Scripture · Old Testament

Isaiah 8:20

Isaiah 8:20 is verse 20 of Isaiah chapter 8, shown here in the Berean Standard Bible.

Berean Standard Bible

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

BSB source and public domain terms

King James Version

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

World English Bible

Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

Read in context

Isaiah 8:18–22 · Berean Standard Bible

18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

19 When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?

20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

21 They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

22 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.

Read all of Isaiah 8

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Isaiah 8:16

Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

Luke 10:26

“What is written in the Law?” Jesus replied. “How do you read it?”

Luke 16:29

But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let your brothers listen to them.’

Luke 16:30

‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone is sent to them from the dead, they will repent.’

Luke 16:31

Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

John 5:39

You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,

John 5:46

If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.

John 5:47

But since you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

Acts 17:11

Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.

Galatians 3:8

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and foretold the gospel to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”

Galatians 3:9

So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:10

All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”

Galatians 3:11

Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.”

Galatians 3:12

The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.”

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Galatians 3:14

He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Galatians 3:15

Brothers, let me put this in human terms. Even a human covenant, once it is ratified, cannot be canceled or amended.

Galatians 3:16

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, “and to seeds,” meaning many, but “and to your seed,” meaning One, who is Christ.

Galatians 3:17

What I mean is this: The law that came 430 years later does not revoke the covenant previously established by God, so as to nullify the promise.

Galatians 3:18

For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God freely granted it to Abraham through a promise.

Galatians 3:19

Why then was the law given? It was added because of transgressions, until the arrival of the seed to whom the promise referred. It was administered through angels by a mediator.

Galatians 3:20

A mediator is unnecessary, however, for only one party; but God is one.

Galatians 3:21

Is the law, then, opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come from the law.

Galatians 3:22

But the Scripture pronounces all things confined by sin, so that by faith in Jesus Christ the promise might be given to those who believe.

Galatians 3:23

Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.

Galatians 3:24

So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Galatians 3:25

Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Galatians 3:26

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:27

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 3:28

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:29

And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 4:21

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand what the law says?

Galatians 4:22

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.

2 Timothy 3:15

From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 3:17

so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:19

We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Isaiah 30:8

Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.

Isaiah 30:9

These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

Isaiah 30:10

They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.

Isaiah 30:11

Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”

Psalms 19:7

The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.

Psalms 19:8

The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalms 119:130

The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.

Jeremiah 8:9

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?

Micah 3:6

Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.

Matthew 6:23

But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew 22:29

Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

Mark 7:7

They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

Mark 7:8

You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”

Mark 7:9

He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.

Romans 1:22

Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools,

2 Peter 1:9

But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Proverbs 4:18

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.

Hosea 6:3

So let us know— let us press on to know the LORD. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the rain, like the spring showers that water the earth.

Malachi 4:2

“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

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