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What the Bible Says About Time

Overview

The Bible addresses time across 82 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Genesis, Jeremiah and Daniel. Closely related themes include Years, God, Months and Night. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Abraham, Saul, Solomon and Noah.

Key Bible verses about time

Old Testament

Genesis

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Genesis 1:14

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: the day: Heb. between the day and between the night

Genesis 7:11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. windows: or, floodgates

Genesis 8:3

And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated. continually: Heb. in going and returning

Genesis 8:13

And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

Genesis 15:13

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

Genesis 17:1

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. perfect: or, upright, or, sincere

Isaiah

Isaiah 36:1

Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them.

Isaiah 38:8

Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down. sun dial: Heb. degrees by, or, with the sun

Isaiah 45:21

Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

Isaiah 49:8

Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; establish: or, raise up

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 1:2

To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.

Jeremiah 14:8

O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

Jeremiah 14:19

Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!

Jeremiah 46:21

Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. fatted: Heb. bullocks of the stall

Jeremiah 50:27

Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

Daniel

Daniel 5:5

In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

Daniel 7:25

And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Daniel 9:2

In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

Daniel 10:2

In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. full: Heb. weeks of days

Daniel 12:7

And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. a time: or, part

New Testament

People in the Bible and time

Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.

In the Bible dictionary

Studying time for yourself

  • Begin with Genesis 1:1, then read the passages below in canonical order.
  • Compare how Genesis, Jeremiah and Daniel each treat the theme.
  • Consider the lives of Abraham, Saul and Solomon and how their stories intersect with it.
  • Widen the study to related themes: Years, God, Months and Night.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Bible say about time?

The Bible addresses time across 82 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Genesis, Jeremiah and Daniel. Closely related themes include Years, God, Months and Night. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Abraham, Saul, Solomon and Noah.

How many Bible verses are about time?

The Bible references time in 82 verses (King James Version).

Where does the Bible first mention time?

In canonical order, the first of these passages is Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Which people in the Bible are associated with time?

Abraham, Saul, Solomon, Noah and Moses.

Preach & teach

Outline a sermon or build a study series on time.

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