Joel 2:31 (DRB)

Passage

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come.

Nearby Context

Joel 2:29 Moreover, upon my servants and handmaids in those days I will pour forth my spirit.

Joel 2:30 And I will shew wonders in heaven; and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood: before the great and dreadful day of the Lord doth come.

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved: for in Mount Sion, and in Jerusalem shall be salvation, as the Lord hath said, and in the residue whom the Lord shall call.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "darkness", "shall", "turned", "moon", "blood", "before", "great", and "dreadful". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "darkness" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 30's "And I will shew wonders in heaven..." into verse 32's "And it shall come to pass that...", so "darkness" 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 "darkness" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.