Assemble and come, all you nations, And gather together all around. Cause Your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves together.” Cause your mighty ones to come down there, Yahweh.
- KJV Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
- BSB Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.
- NASB Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations, And gather yourselves there. Bring down, Lord, Your warriors.
- NLT Come quickly, all you nations everywhere. Gather together in the valley.” And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The surrounding nations are called to gather, while Joel prays for Yahweh to bring down His mighty ones. Human armies assemble only to face God's heavenly host.
Overview
Joel summons the nations to converge for judgment and then breaks into prayer, asking God to send down His warriors. The contrast between the gathered nations and God's mighty ones, likely His angelic host, underscores where true power lies. The scene anticipates the final triumph of God over all rebellious powers, accomplished through Christ the conquering King.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 13:3I have commanded my consecrated ones; yes, I have called my mighty men for my anger, even my proudly exulting ones.
- Zeph 3:8“Therefore wait for me”, says Yahweh, “until the day that I rise up to the prey, for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, even all my fierce anger, for all the earth will be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
- Joel 3:2I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment on them there for my people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land,
- Ezek 38:9–18You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
- Mic 4:12But they don’t know the thoughts of Yahweh, neither do they understand his counsel; for he has gathered them like the sheaves to the threshing floor.
- Zech 14:2–3For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city.
- 2 Th 1:7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
- Rev 16:14–16for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty.
- Isa 37:36Yahweh’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
- Isa 10:34He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.
- Rev 20:8–9and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
- Rev 19:14The armies which are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in white, pure, fine linen.
- Rev 19:19–20I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse, and against his army.
- Ps 103:20Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promised outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh and the call to 'everyone who calls on the name of the LORD' are fulfilled at Pentecost in the name of Jesus.
How Joel 3:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.