The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
Parallel translations
- KJV The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
- BSB The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.
- NKJV The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
- NASB ‘The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood, Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
- NLT The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
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
The sun will darken and the moon turn to blood before the great day of the Lord. It warns of coming judgment alongside the offer of salvation.
Overview
These signs herald the climactic 'day of the Lord,' a time of both judgment and deliverance. Peter quotes them to frame the present moment within God's larger purpose. Believers note that such language points toward the consummation while the call to be saved is already open.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Amos 8:9It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
- Matt 24:29But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;
- 1 Th 5:2For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
- Mal 4:5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- Joel 2:1Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
- Mark 13:24But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,
- 2 Pet 3:7But the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Luke 21:25There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves;
- Joel 3:14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
- Isa 2:12–21For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and haughty, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:
- Rev 6:12I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.
- Rev 16:8The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to him to scorch men with fire.
- Matt 27:45Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
- Jer 4:23I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
- Isa 13:9Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.
- Isa 13:15Everyone who is found will be thrust through. Everyone who is captured will fall by the sword.
- Isa 24:23Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for Yahweh of Armies will reign on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; and before his elders will be glory.
- Zeph 2:2–3before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you.
- Isa 34:8For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
- 1 Cor 5:5are to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
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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 2:20 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
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