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“And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
Joel 2:30 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
  • KJV And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
  • BSB I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke.
  • NASB “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
  • NLT And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth— blood and fire and columns of smoke.

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

God will show wonders in the heavens and on earth, including blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. These signs accompany the coming day of Yahweh.

Overview

Alongside the Spirit's outpouring, God foretells cosmic and earthly portents heralding His great day. Peter cites these signs at Pentecost as part of the era inaugurated by Christ (Acts 2:19). Such wonders mark the unfolding of God's redemptive purposes and point toward the final day of the Lord, warning all to be ready through salvation in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Acts 2:19–20I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
  • Luke 21:11There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
  • 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;
  • Luke 21:25–26There 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;
  • Mark 13:24–25But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,
  • Judg 20:40But when the cloud began to arise up out of the city in a pillar of smoke, the Benjamites looked behind them; and behold, the whole city went up in smoke to the sky.
  • Rev 6:12–17I 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.
  • Gen 19:28He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
  • Rev 18:9The kings of the earth, who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her, will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning,
  • Rev 18:18and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like the great city?’
  • Song 3:6Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?
  • Judg 20:38Now the appointed sign between the men of Israel and the ambushers was that they should make a great cloud of smoke rise up out of the city.
  • Josh 8:20When the men of Ai looked behind them, they saw, and behold, the smoke of the city ascended up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that way. The people who fled to the wilderness turned back on the pursuers.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Joel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on Joel 2:30YouTube · 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 JoelMatthew 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

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 2:30 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.