Joel 3:12
What does Joel 3:12 mean?
A plain-English look at Joel 3:12 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Joel 3:12 means
The Lord declares the purpose of the assembly: “there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.” The nations “bestir themselves” to come, but God sits—calm, enthroned, authoritative. The valley of Jehoshaphat becomes the great assize, not a human battlefield. Judgment is universal (“all the nations”), personal (He sits), and local (a specific valley). The restless energy of rebellion meets the settled sovereignty of the Judge. No appeal lies beyond His bench. The posture of the Lord here assures His people: the verdict will be righteous, the sentence sure, and the process under His control.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Let the nations be awake, and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there I will be seated as judge of all the nations round about.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Wake and come up let the nations unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, For there I sit to judge all the nations around.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Let them arise, and let the nations come up into the valley of Josaphat: for there I will sit to judge all nations round about.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Let the nations rouse themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about.
Context
With the courtroom now convened, the prophecy moves from summons to sentence. The following verse trades legal imagery for agricultural and vinicultural pictures—sickle and winepress—that depict the execution of judgment. Seeing verse 12 as the hinge from verdict to action helps make sense of the rapid, vivid images that follow.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 110:5
The Lord at thy right hand Will strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
- Joel 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision.
- Psalms 2:8
Ask of me, and I will givetheethe nations for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
- Psalms 76:8
Thou didst cause sentence to be heard from heaven; The earth feared, and was still,
- Zechariah 14:4
And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the mount of Olives shall be cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
- 2 Chronicles 20:26
And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Jehovah: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah unto this day.
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