Joel 2:28 (DBY)

Passage

And it shall come to pass afterwards [that] I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

Nearby Context

Joel 2:26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of Jehovah your God, who hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Joel 2:27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, Jehovah, [am] your God, and there is none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterwards [that] I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

Joel 2:29 Yea, even upon the bondmen and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit.

Joel 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "shall", "come", "pass", "afterwards", "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 27's "And ye shall know that I am..." into verse 29's "Yea even upon the bondmen and upon...", so "Spirit" and "shall" belong inside that flow. In Joel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

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.