Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
Parallel translations
- WEB The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
- KJV The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
- NKJV The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness.
- NASB Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon become dark, And the stars lose their brightness.
- NLT The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine.
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
Before this army the earth quakes, the heavens tremble, and sun, moon, and stars go dark. Cosmic upheaval accompanies the day of Yahweh.
Overview
Joel describes creation itself convulsing as the host advances, with the heavenly lights darkened. Such cosmic disturbance is a recurring sign of God's great judgments in the prophets and is taken up in the New Testament concerning the last day (Matthew 24:29). The verse lifts the locust plague into the larger scope of the day of Yahweh, pointing to God's ultimate intervention in history.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Matt 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
- Isa 13:10For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.
- Joel 3:15–16The sun and moon will grow dark, and the stars will no longer shine.
- Ps 18:7Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Acts 2:20The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and glorious Day of the Lord.
- Mark 13:24–25But in those days, after that tribulation: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
- Ezek 32:7–8When I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.
- Jer 4:23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Rev 6:12And when I saw the Lamb open the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,
- Nah 1:5The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
- Isa 34:4All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.
- Rev 8:12Then the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun and moon and stars were struck. A third of the stars were darkened, a third of the day was without light, and a third of the night as well.
- Joel 2:31The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.
- Luke 21:25–26There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.
- Ps 114:7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
- Joel 2:2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.
- Amos 5:8He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name—
- Matt 27:51At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and the rocks were split.
- Rev 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 2:10 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.