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Read the Bible

King James Version

Joel 2:10

The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Colors;   Darkness;   Eclipse;   Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Joel;   Locust;   Moon;   Stars;   Sun;   War;   Scofield Reference Index - Armageddon;   Thompson Chain Reference - Eclipse;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Moon, the;   Stars, the;   Sun, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Locust;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Earthquake;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Mark, Theology of;   Nahum, Theology of;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Eclipse;   Locust;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Day of the Lord;   Earthquake;   Joel;   Moon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Joel, Book of;   Locust;   Moon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Wing ;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Moon;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Locusts;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Egypt;   Locust;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Eclipse of the Sun;   Fasts;   Locust,;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Judgment;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Judah;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Astronomy;   Joel (2);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Eschatology;   Moon;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The earth quakes before them;the sky shakes.The sun and moon grow dark,and the stars cease their shining.
Hebrew Names Version
The eretz quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining.
English Standard Version
The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
New American Standard Bible
Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon become dark, And the stars lose their brightness.
New Century Version
Before them, earth and sky shake. The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars stop shining.
Amplified Bible
The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The earth shal tremble before him, ye heauens shal shake, the sunne & the moone shalbe darke, & the starres shal withdraw their shining,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Before them the earth quakes, The heavens tremble, The sun and the moon grow dark And the stars lose their brightness.
Legacy Standard Bible
Before them the earth trembles;The heavens quake;The sun and the moon grow dark,And the stars lose their brightness.
Berean Standard Bible
Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.
Contemporary English Version
They make the earth tremble and the heavens shake; the sun and moon turn dark, and stars stop shining.
Complete Jewish Bible
At their advance the earth quakes, and the sky shakes, the sun and moon turn black, and the stars stop shining.
Darby Translation
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Easy-to-Read Version
Before them, earth and sky shake. The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars stop shining.
George Lamsa Translation
The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.
Good News Translation
The earth shakes as they advance; the sky trembles. The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine.
Lexham English Bible
Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars have withheld their splendor
Literal Translation
The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall shake. The sun and moon shall grow dark, and the stars shall gather in their light.
American Standard Version
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Bible in Basic English
The earth is troubled before them and the heavens are shaking: the sun and the moon have become dark, and the stars keep back their shining:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Before them the earth quaketh, the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are become black, and the stars withdraw their shining.
King James Version (1611)
The earth shall quake before them, the heauens shall tremble, the Sun & the Moone shall be darke, & the starres shall withdrawe their shining.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The earth shall quake before him, the heauens shall tremble, the sunne and the moone shalbe darke, and the starres shall withdrawe their shinyng.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Before them the earth shall be confounded, and the sky shall be shaken: the sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their light.
English Revised Version
The earth quaketh before them; the heavens tremble: the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining:
World English Bible
The earth quakes before them. The heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, And the stars withdraw their shining.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The erthe tremblide of his face, heuenys weren mouyd, the sunne and the moone weren maad derk, and sterris withdrowen her schynyng.
Update Bible Version
The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Webster's Bible Translation
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
New English Translation
The earth quakes before them; the sky reverberates. The sun and the moon grow dark; the stars refuse to shine.
New King James Version
The earth quakes before them, The heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars diminish their brightness.
New Living Translation
The earth quakes as they advance, and the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine.
New Life Bible
The earth shakes in front of them. The heavens shake. The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars stop shining.
New Revised Standard
The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Before him, hath quaked the earth, have trembled the heavens, - the sun and the moon, have become dark, and, the stars, have withdrawn their shining;
Douay-Rheims Bible
At their presence the earth hath trembled, the heavens are moved: the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars have withdrawn their shining.
Revised Standard Version
The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.
Young's Literal Translation
At their face trembled hath the earth, Shaken have the heavens, Sun and moon have been black, And stars have gathered up their shining.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The earth shal quake before him, yee the heauens shalbe moued: the Sonne & Moone shal be darckened, and the starres shal withdrawe their shyne.

Contextual Overview

1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. 7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: 8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9 They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

earth: Psalms 18:7, Psalms 114:7, Nahum 1:5, Matthew 27:51, Revelation 6:12, Revelation 20:11

the sun: Joel 2:2, Joel 2:31, Joel 3:15, Isaiah 13:10, Isaiah 34:4, Jeremiah 4:23, Ezekiel 32:7, Amos 5:8, Matthew 24:29, Mark 13:24, Mark 13:25, Luke 21:25, Luke 21:26, Acts 2:20, Revelation 8:12

Reciprocal: Genesis 1:14 - and let Joshua 10:13 - So the sun Job 9:6 - the pillars Isaiah 5:30 - if one look Jeremiah 51:29 - the land Joel 3:16 - and the heavens Amos 5:18 - the day of the Lord is Revelation 9:2 - and the sun

Cross-References

Psalms 46:4
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
Revelation 22:1
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The earth shall quake before them,.... The inhabitants of it, because of the desolating judgments they bring with them, and those enemies that are signified by them:

the heavens shall tremble; being obscured by them:

the sun and moon shall be dark; the locusts sometimes come in such large numbers as to intercept the rays of the sun. Pliny t says they sometimes darken it; and though some thought they did not fly in the night, because of the cold; this he observes is owing to their ignorance, not considering that they pass over wide seas to distant countries; and this will account for it how the moon also may be darkened by them, and the stars, as follows:

and the stars shall withdraw their shining; though all this may be understood in a figurative sense of the great consternation that all sorts of persons should be in at such calamities coming upon the land, either by locusts, or by enemies; as the king, queen, nobles, and the common people of the land, signified by sun, moon, and stars, heaven and earth.

t Ibid. (Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 29.)

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The earth shall quake before them - “Not,” says Jerome, “as though locusts or enemies had power to move the heavens or to shake the earth; but because, to those under trouble, for their exceeding terror, the heaven seems to fall and the earth to reel. But indeed, for the multitude of the locusts which cover the heavens, sun and moon shall be turned into darkness, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, while the cloud of locusts interrupts the light, and allows it not to reach the earth.” Yet the mention of moon and stars rather suggests that something more is meant than the locusts, who, not flying by night except when they cross the sea, do not obscure either. Rather, as the next verse speaks of God’s immediate, sensible, presence, this verse seems to pass from the image of the locusts to the full reality, and to say that heaven and earth should shake at the judgments of God, before He appeareth. Our Lord gives the same description of the forerunners of the Day of Judgment; “there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, people’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” Luke 21:25-26.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 10. The earth shall quake - the heavens shall tremble — Poetical expressions, to point out universal consternation and distress. The earth quaked to see itself deprived of its verdure; the heavens trembled to find themselves deprived of their light.

The sun and the moon shall be darkBochart relates that "their multitude is sometimes so immense as to obscure the heavens for the space of twelve miles!" - Ibid. p. 479.


 
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