The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Parallel translations
- WEB The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
- BSB The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome 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 awesome day of the Lord comes.
- NLT The sun will become dark, and the moon will turn blood red before that great and terrible 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 and terrible day of Yahweh. Dramatic signs will precede God's final judgment.
Overview
Joel foretells cosmic disturbances signaling the approach of the day of Yahweh. These signs, also cited by Peter (Acts 2:20) and echoed by Jesus (Matthew 24:29), span the gospel age to the final day. The warning of that great and terrible day heightens the urgency of the salvation promise that immediately follows in verse 32.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rev 6:12–13And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
- Matt 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
- Mal 4:1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
- Mal 4:5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
- Joel 3:15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
- Zeph 1:14–16The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
- Joel 2:10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
- Mark 13:24–25But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
- Isa 13:9–10Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
- Luke 21:25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
- Joel 3:1For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
- Matt 27:45Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
- Isa 34:4–5And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:31 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.