Bible Strands
Joel 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Joel addresses Judah and the gathered nations immediately after commanding them to harvest and trample the winepress of wickedness. The declaration marks the transition from prophetic warning to imminent divine intervention.
The words — הֲמוֹנִים (ha.mo.Nim) means multitudes and is doubled for emphasis, while חָרוּץ (cha.Rutz) literally denotes decision or cutting. The text states that masses are gathered in a designated place because the Day of Yahweh is approaching.
The thread — The valley of decision corresponds to the Valley of Jehoshaphat where God brings the nations to judgment in Joel 3:2, and the nearness of the Day of the LORD parallels the cosmic signs in Joel 3:15 and the global wrath described in Isaiah 34:2.
Why it lands — The passage states that judgment is both mass and immediate, requiring the reader to recognize the certainty of God's decisive action. It asks the reader to treat the warning as factual rather than metaphorical.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 34:2 The LORD is angry with all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will devote them to destruction; He will give them over to slaughter.
- Joel 3:2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.
- Philippians 3:2 Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Revelation 16:14 These are demonic spirits that perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.
- Joel 1:15 Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
- Joel 2:1 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
- 2 Peter 3:7 And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Revelation 19:19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army.
- Isaiah 63:1 Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
- Ezekiel 38:8 After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely.