Joel 3:15 (KJV)

Passage

The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Nearby Context

Joel 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Joel 3:15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Joel 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

Joel 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "moon", "shall", "darkened", "stars", "withdraw", and "shining". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "moon" and "shall", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "Multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision..." into verse 16's "The LORD also shall roar out of...", so "moon" 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 "moon" and "shall" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.