King James Bible
"But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him."
Jesus contrasts walking in darkness with the previous verse about walking in daylight. In the immediate context, 'night' symbolizes both physical danger and spiritual blindness—a time when divine guidance is absent and one operates outside God's will. The inevitable consequence of walking without light is stumbling, representing failure, error, or harm. This metaphor extends beyond physical mishaps to spiritual and moral missteps that occur when one acts apart from God's wisdom. The crucial shift from external darkness to internal absence reveals the deeper meaning: the problem isn't merely environmental but spiritual. Without Christ as the inner light, a person lacks the guidance and truth necessary to navigate life successfully.