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‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
Acts 2:17 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB ‘It will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.
  • KJV And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
  • NKJV ‘Andit shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.
  • NASB ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters will prophesy, And your young men will see visions, And your old men will have dreams;
  • NLT ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Joel foretold that in the last days God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, with sons and daughters prophesying. It announces the Spirit's gift to all kinds of people.

Overview

The prophecy promises the Spirit poured out broadly across age, gender, and status. Peter sees the 'last days' inaugurated at Pentecost, the era between Christ's first and second comings. This democratized gift marks the new-covenant people empowered for witness.

Cross-references & the web

Quotation

  • Joel 2:28And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Cross-references · 34

  • Joel 2:28–32And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
  • Isa 44:3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
  • Titus 3:4–6But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
  • Acts 10:45All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
  • John 7:39He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
  • Zech 12:10Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
  • Ezek 11:19And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
  • Heb 1:2But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe.
  • 1 Cor 12:28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, and those with gifts of healing, helping, administration, and various tongues.
  • Hos 3:5Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
  • Luke 3:6And all humanity will see God’s salvation.’”
  • 1 Cor 12:10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in various tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
  • Acts 21:9He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
  • Isa 66:23From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.
  • 2 Pet 3:3Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
  • Zech 2:13Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
  • Ezek 39:29And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
  • Rom 5:5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
  • Isa 2:2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
  • Isa 32:15–16until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
  • Ps 72:6May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.
  • Prov 1:23If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you.
  • Mic 4:1In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
  • Isa 40:5And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all humanity together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
  • John 17:2For You granted Him authority over all people, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him.
  • Gen 49:1Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
  • Isa 49:26I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
  • 1 Cor 14:26–31What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church.
  • Dan 10:14Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”
  • Ezek 36:25–27I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
  • Jas 5:3Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days.
  • Gen 6:12And God looked upon the earth and saw that it was corrupt; for all living creatures on the earth had corrupted their ways.
  • Ps 65:2O You who listen to prayer, all people will come to You.
  • Acts 11:28One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 2:17YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 2:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.