Acts 2:17 (DBY)

Passage

And it shall be in the last days, saith God, [that] 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 elders shall dream with dreams;

Nearby Context

Acts 2:15 for these are not full of wine, as *ye* suppose, for it is the third hour of the day;

Acts 2:16 but this is that which was spoken through the prophet Joel,

Acts 2:17 And it shall be in the last days, saith God, [that] 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 elders shall dream with dreams;

Acts 2:18 yea, even upon my bondmen and upon my bondwomen in those days will I pour out of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:19 And I will give wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "shall", "last", "days", "saith", "pour", "upon", and "flesh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "but this is that which was spoken..." into verse 18's "yea even upon my bondmen and upon...", so "Spirit" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "Spirit" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.