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the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Christian Standard Bible ®

Acts 2:19

I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Astronomy;   Church;   Heaven;   Judgment;   Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena;   Orator;   Peter;   Preaching;   Prophecy;   Quotations and Allusions;   Readings, Select;   Revivals;   Zeal, Religious;   Scofield Reference Index - Day (of Jehovah);   Repentance;   Thompson Chain Reference - Awakenings and Religious Reforms;   Awakenings, Religious;   Holy Spirit;   Spirit;   The Topic Concordance - Day of the Lord;   Last Days;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ascension;   Winds;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Day of the lord;   Joel;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Baptism of the Holy Spirit;   Church, the;   Day;   Day of the Lord, God, Christ, the;   Feasts and Festivals of Israel;   Heaven, Heavens, Heavenlies;   Holy Spirit;   Holy Spirit, Gifts of;   Joel, Theology of;   Old Testament in the New Testament, the;   Woman;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Baptism ;   Gift of Tongues;   Hearing the Word of God;   Holy Ghost;   Worship of God;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Miracle;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Old Testament;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Acts;   Baptism of the Holy Spirit;   Blood;   Christ, Christology;   Church;   Community of Goods;   Joel;   Miracles, Signs, Wonders;   Sign;   Spiritual Gifts;   Worship;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Communion;   Mark, Gospel According to;   Messiah;   Pentecost, Feast of;   Tongues, Gift of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Acts of the Apostles (2);   Assurance;   Atonement (2);   Authority of Christ;   Baptism;   Blood;   Earth Earthen Earthy Earthly;   Eschatology;   Mediator;   Miracles;   Promise (2);   Quotations;   Septuagint;   Smoke ;   Type;   Wonders;   World;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Ascension;   Joel, Book of;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Pentecost;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Joel (2);   Peter;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Smoke;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom or Church of Christ, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Astronomy;   Baptism of the Holy Spirit;   Holy Spirit;   Parousia;   Tongues, Gift of;   Vapor;  

Parallel Translations

Simplified Cowboy Version
I will put on a show in the heavens and do mighty things on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
Legacy Standard Bible
And I will put wonders in the sky aboveAnd signs on the earth below,Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
Bible in Basic English
And wonders will be seen in heaven, and signs on the earth, blood and fire and smoke:
Darby Translation
And I will give wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
New King James Version
I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
World English Bible
I will show wonders in the the sky above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And I will shew prodigies in heaven above, and signs on earth beneath,
Weymouth's New Testament
I will display marvels in the sky above, and signs on the earth below, blood and fire, and pillars of smoke.
King James Version (1611)
And I wil shew wonders in heauen aboue, and signes in the earth beneath: blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.
Literal Translation
"And I will give wonders in the heaven above," and miraculous signs "on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And I wil shewe wonders in heauen aboue, and tokens on the earth beneth, bloude and fyre, and the vapoure of smoke.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and I will shew prodigies in the heavens, and signs on the earth; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke.
Amplified Bible
'AND I WILL BRING ABOUT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS (attesting miracles) ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD AND FIRE AND SMOKING VAPOR.
American Standard Version
And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
Revised Standard Version
And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And I will shewe wonders in heaven a bove and tokens in the erth benethe bloud and fyre and the vapour of smoke.
Update Bible Version
And I will show wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
Webster's Bible Translation
And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
Young's Literal Translation
and I will give wonders in the heaven above, and signs upon the earth beneath -- blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke,
New Century Version
I will show miracles in the sky and on the earth: blood, fire, and thick smoke.
New English Translation
And I will perform wonders in the sky above and miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke .
Berean Standard Bible
I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
Contemporary English Version
I will work miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
Complete Jewish Bible
I will perform miracles in the sky above and signs on the earth below — blood, fire and thick smoke.
English Standard Version
And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
Geneva Bible (1587)
And I wil shew wonders in heauen aboue, and tokens in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and the vapour of smoke.
George Lamsa Translation
And I will show wonders in heaven, and signs on the earth; blood and fire and vapor of smoke:
Hebrew Names Version
I will show wonders in the the sky above, And signs on the eretz beneath; Blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
International Standard Version
I will work wonders in the sky aboveJoel 2:30-31;">[xr] and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.
Etheridge Translation
And I will give signs in heaven, And mighty (deeds) on earth; Blood and fire and clouds of smoke:
Murdock Translation
And I will give signs in heaven, and prodigies on earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
New Living Translation
And I will cause wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below— blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
New Life Bible
I will show powerful works in the sky above. There will be things to see in the earth below like blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
English Revised Version
And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, And signs on the earth beneath; Blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
New Revised Standard
And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And I will set forth wonders in the heaven above, and signs upon the earth beneath, - blood and fire and vapour of smoke:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will shew wonders in the heaven above, and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire, and vapour of smoke.
King James Version
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Lexham English Bible
And I will cause wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And I wyll shewe wonders in heauen aboue, and tokens in the earth beneath, blood, and fyre, and the vapour of smoke.
Easy-to-Read Version
I will work wonders in the sky above. I will cause miraculous signs on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke.
New American Standard Bible
'AND I WILL DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
Good News Translation
I will perform miracles in the sky above and wonders on the earth below. There will be blood, fire, and thick smoke;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y schal yyue grete wondris in heuene aboue, and signes in erthe bynethe, blood, and fier, and heete of smoke.

Contextual Overview

14 But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: "Men of Judah and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it's only nine in the morning. 16 On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 17 And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 I will even pour out My Spirit on My male and female slaves in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord comes. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though He was delivered up according to God's determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Joel 2:30, Joel 2:31, Zephaniah 1:14-18, Malachi 4:1-6

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:14 - and let Psalms 86:10 - For Isaiah 9:5 - burning Isaiah 34:4 - all the Jeremiah 4:23 - the heavens Ezekiel 34:12 - in the cloudy Haggai 2:6 - and I Malachi 4:5 - great Matthew 24:7 - famines Matthew 24:29 - shall the Mark 13:24 - General Luke 21:10 - Nation shall Luke 21:25 - signs Revelation 6:12 - the sun Revelation 9:2 - there Revelation 12:1 - there

Cross-References

Genesis 1:28
God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth."
Genesis 2:4
These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
Genesis 2:8
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.
Genesis 2:20
The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found as his complement.
Genesis 2:22
Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.
Genesis 2:23
And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called "woman," for she was taken from man.
Genesis 6:20
Two of everything—from the birds according to their kinds, from the livestock according to their kinds, and from the animals that crawl on the ground according to their kinds—will come to you so that you can keep them alive.
Genesis 9:2
The fear and terror of you will be in every living creature on the earth, every bird of the sky, every creature that crawls on the ground, and all the fish of the sea. They are placed under your authority.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I will show wonders in heaven above,.... The word above is not in Joel, nor in the Syriac version here, as neither the word "beneath", in the next clause. This may refer either to the appearance of angels, and of an extraordinary star at the birth of Christ; or rather to comets and blazing stars, and particularly to that comet which, in the form of a flaming sword, hung over Jerusalem, and the forms of armies in the heavens engaged together, which were seen before, and portended the destruction of that city t:

and signs in the earth beneath; meaning either the miracles done by Christ, and his apostles, on earth; or those surprising events in Judea and in Jerusalem, a flame was seen in the temple, the doors of it opened of themselves, and a voice was heard in it, saying, let us go hence; and an idiot went about several years together, saying, woe to the people, woe to the city, c.

blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: by blood is meant not the blood of Christ, either his bloody sweat in the garden, or what he shed on the cross, but the blood of the Jews, shed in war, and in internal seditions and murders: and by "fire" is designed not the Holy Ghost, who now appeared in cloven tongues, as of fire, but the conflagration of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and of many other towns and villages. And by "vapours of smoke" or, as in the Hebrew text, "pillars of smoke", ascending in upright columns, like palm trees, are intended literally, the vast quantities of smoke that would arise from such burnings; so that the very heavens would be clouded and darkened with them, and sun and moon appear in the following form.

t Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will show wonders - Literally, “I will give signs” - δώσω τέρατα dōsō terata. The word in the Hebrew, מופתים mowpatiym, means properly “prodigies; wonderful occurrences; miracles performed by God or his messengers,” Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:3, Exodus 7:9; Exodus 11:9; Deuteronomy 4:34, etc. It is the common word to denote a miracle in the Old Testament. Here it means, however, a portentous appearance, a prodigy, a remarkable occurrence. It is commonly joined in the New Testament with the word “signs” - “signs and wonders,” Matthew 24:24; Mark 13:22; John 4:48. In these places it does not of necessity mean miracles, but unusual and remarkable appearances. Here it is used to mean great and striking changes in the sky, the sun, moon, etc. The Hebrew is, “I will give signs in the heaven and upon the earth.” Peter has quoted it according to the sense, and not according to the letter. The Septuagint is here a literal translation of the Hebrew; and this is one of the instances where the New Testament writers did not quote from either.

Much of the difficulty of interpreting these verses consists in affixing the proper meaning to the expression “that great and notable day of the Lord.” If it be limited to the day of Pentecost, it is certain that no such events occurred at that time. But there is, it is believed, no propriety in confining it to that time. The description here pertains to “the last days” Acts 2:17; that is, to the whole of that period of duration, however long, which was known by the prophets as “the last times.” That period might be extended through many centuries; and during that period all these events would take place. The day of the Lord is the day when God will manifest himself in a special manner; a day when he will so strikingly be seen in his wonders and his judgments that it may be called his day. Thus, it is applied to the day of judgment as the day of the Son of man; the day in which he will be the great attractive object, and will be signally glorified, Luke 17:24; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; Philippians 1:6; 2 Peter 3:12. If, as I suppose, “that notable day of the Lord” here refers to that future time when God will manifest himself in judgment, then we are not to suppose that Peter meant to say that these “wonders” would take place on the day of Pentecost, or had their fulfillment then, “but would occur under that indefinite period called “the last days,” the days of the Messiah, and before that period Was closed by the great day of the Lord.” The gift of tongues was a partial fulfillment of the general prophecy pertaining to those times. And as the prophecy was thus partially fulfilled, it was a pledge that it would be entirely; and thus there was laid a foundation for the necessity of repentance, and for calling on the Lord in order to be saved.

Blood - Blood is commonly used as an emblem of slaughter or of battle.

Fire - Fire is also an image of war, or the conflagration of towns and dwellings in time of war.

Vapour of smoke - The word “vapor,” ἀτμίς atmis, means commonly an exhalation from the earth, etc., easily moved from one place to another. Here it means (Hebrew: Joel) rising columbus or pillars of smoke, and is another image of the calamities of war the smoke rising from burning towns. It has always been customary in war to burn the towns of an enemy, and to render him as helpless as possible. Hence, the calamities denoted here are those represented by such scenes. To what particular scenes there is reference here it is impossible now to say. It may be remarked, however, that scenes of this kind occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem, and there is a striking resemblance between the description in Joel and that by which our Saviour foretells the destruction of Jerusalem. See the notes on Matthew 24:21-24. Dr. Thomson (Land and the Book, vol. 2, p. 311) supposes that the reference in Joel may have been to the usual appearances of the sirocco, or that they may have suggested the image used here. He says: “We have two kinds of sirocco, one accompanied with vehement wind, which fills the air with dust and fine sand. I have often seen the whole heavens veiled in gloom with this sort of sandcloud, through which the sun, shorn of his beams, looked like a globe of dull smouldering fire. It may have been this phenomenon which suggested that strong prophetic figure of Joel, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost. Wonders in the heaven and in the earth; blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. The pillars of smoke are probably those columns of sand and dust raised high in the air by local whirlwinds, which often accompany the sirocco. On the great desert of the Hauran I have seen a score of them marching with great rapidity over the plain, and they closely resemble ‘pillars of smoke.’”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 2:19. I will show wonders — It is likely that both the prophet and the apostle refer to the calamities that fell upon the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the fearful signs and portents that preceded those calamities. See the notes on Matthew 24:5-7, where these are distinctly related.

Blood, fire, and vapour of smoke — Skirmishes and assassinations over the land, and wasting the country with fire and sword.


 
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