Advent Bible verses for the four weeks include Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 9:6 and Luke 1:46-47. Advent is the four weeks before Christmas, when many churches wait and prepare for the coming of Christ. These verses follow the themes often given to the Advent candles, hope, peace, joy and love, from Isaiah’s promise of light to Mary’s song.
A verse for you
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Promised to a land that had known invasion and gloom: people walking in darkness have seen a great light (9:1 in some Catholic Bibles).
KJVThe people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
Promised to a land that had known invasion and gloom: people walking in darkness have seen a great light (9:1 in some Catholic Bibles).
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Paul’s prayer for you: may the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust Him, until you overflow with hope.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (9:5 in some Catholic Bibles).
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Waiting for God the way a night watchman waits for morning: tired, longing, and sure the dawn will come.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
A voice calls for a road through the desert for God. The Gospels hear it in John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
The light keeps shining in the dark, and the darkness has not put it out. “Comprehended” can mean grasped or overcome.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah’s sign of a child called Immanuel, which Christians read as fulfilled in Jesus (Matthew 1:23).
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Centuries before Jesus, Micah named the little town where Israel’s ruler would be born: Bethlehem (5:1 in some Catholic Bibles).
And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Mary’s song when she visits Elizabeth: her whole self praises the Lord and rejoices in God her Savior.
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
Arise and shine: the light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises over you like the dawn.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
The night is nearly over and the day is near: a call to wake up and live now as people of the light.
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Christians live between two comings: God’s grace has already appeared, and they look forward to Christ’s appearing in glory.
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
One of the last promises of the Old Testament prophets: a sunrise of righteousness, with healing in its wings (3:20 in some Catholic Bibles).
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Almost the last words of the Bible: Jesus says He is coming soon, and the church answers, Come, Lord Jesus.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.
Advent comes from the Latin adventus, coming. In many traditions it opens the church year: four Sundays of waiting and preparing before Christmas. It looks two ways at once. It remembers the long wait of God’s people for the promised Savior, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light,” and it looks ahead to Christ’s coming again, which the New Testament calls “that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).
Many churches and families light an Advent wreath, one more candle each Sunday. Many Protestant churches name the four candles hope, peace, joy and love, though the order and the names vary. In the Catholic tradition the third Sunday is Gaudete, rejoice, named for Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord alway”, and often marked with a rose-colored candle. Many churches also place a white candle in the center, lit at Christmas, for Christ, the light of the world.
Not every church keeps Advent. Orthodox Christians keep a longer Nativity Fast before Christmas, and some churches do not follow a church calendar at all. But these verses belong to everyone: Isaiah’s promise of a child, John the Baptist’s call to “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” Mary’s joy, and the Bible’s closing prayer, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Lord Jesus, in these weeks before Christmas I wait for You. Where I walk in darkness, let Your light shine. God of hope, fill me with joy and peace as I trust You, and prepare a way in my heart for You. As I remember Your first coming, teach me to watch and hope for the day You come again. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.
On Sunday 29 November 2026, the fourth Sunday before Christmas. In the Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant churches, Advent begins on the Sunday nearest 30 November (between 27 November and 3 December) and ends on Christmas Eve, which in 2026 is Thursday 24 December.
Many churches follow these themes, though the order varies. Hope: Romans 15:13 and Isaiah 9:2. Peace: Isaiah 9:6, “The Prince of Peace,” and Isaiah 40:3, since John the Baptist is the theme of the second Sunday in many churches. Joy: Luke 1:46-47 and Isaiah 60:1. Love: John 3:16 and Isaiah 7:14, Emmanuel, God with us. For the Christ candle on Christmas: John 1:14 or Luke 2:10-11.
Advent is the season of waiting and preparing; Christmas is the celebration itself. Advent covers the four Sundays before 25 December. The Christmas season begins on Christmas Day and in many traditions lasts twelve days, until Epiphany on 6 January. Advent verses look forward, to the promised child and to Christ’s return; Christmas verses tell the story of His birth.
Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light,” Romans 15:13 as a blessing of hope, or the short line of Revelation 22:20: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Tap Share to send any verse as an image.