Prophecy Against Gog

38 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward ^(C)Gog, of the land of ^(D)Magog, the ^(E)chief prince of ^(F)Meshech^[a] and ^(G)Tubal, and ^(H)prophesy against him ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(I)I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech^[b] and Tubal. ^4 (J)And I will turn you about and ^(K)put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and ^(L)all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. ^5 (M)Persia, ^(N)Cush, and ^(O)Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ^6 (P)Gomer and all his ^(Q)hordes; ^(R)Beth-togarmah from ^(S)the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—^(T)many peoples are with you.

^7 (U)“Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. ^8 (V)After many days you will be mustered. ^(W)In the latter years you will go against ^(X)the land that is restored from war, the land whose people ^(Y)were gathered from many peoples upon ^(Z)the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and ^(AA)now dwell securely, all of them. ⁹ You will advance, coming on ^(AB)like a storm. You will be ^(AC)like a cloud covering the land, you and all your ^(AD)hordes, and many peoples with you.

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord God: On that day, ^(AE)thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme ¹¹ and say, ‘I will go up against ^(AF)the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon ^(AG)the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ ¹² to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against ^(AH)the waste places that are now inhabited, and ^(AI)the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, ^(AJ)who dwell at the center of the earth. ^13 (AK)Sheba and ^(AL)Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all ^(AM)its leaders^[c] will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’

¹⁴ “Therefore, ^(AN)son of man, prophesy, and say to ^(AO)Gog, Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are ^(AP)dwelling securely, ^(AQ)will you not know it? ¹⁵ You will come from your place out of ^(AR)the uttermost parts of the north, you and ^(AS)many peoples with you, ^(AT)all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. ¹⁶ You will come up against my people Israel, ^(AU)like a cloud covering the land. ^(AV)In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, ^(AW)I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

¹⁷ “Thus says the Lord God: Are you ^(AX)he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? ¹⁸ But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, ^(AY)my wrath will be roused in my anger. ¹⁹ For ^(AZ)in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day ^(BA)there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ^20 (BB)The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, ^(BC)shall quake at my presence. And ^(BD)the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. ^21 (BE)I will summon a sword against Gog^[d] on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. ^(BF)Every man's sword will be against his brother. ²² With pestilence and bloodshed ^(BG)I will enter into judgment with him, and ^(BH)I will rain upon him and ^(BI)his hordes and the many peoples who are with him ^(BJ)torrential rains and hailstones, ^(BK)fire and sulfur. ²³ So I will show my greatness and my ^(BL)holiness and ^(BM)make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then ^(BN)they will know that I am the Lord.

A Living Stone and a Holy People

2 ^(A)So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ^2 (B)Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual ^(C)milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have ^(D)tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ As you come to him, a living stone ^(E)rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ^5 (F)you yourselves like living stones are being built up as ^(G)a spiritual house, to be ^(H)a holy priesthood, ^(I)to offer spiritual sacrifices ^(J)acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture:

⁷ So the honor is for you who ^(M)believe, but for those who ^(N)do not believe,

⁸ and

They stumble because they disobey the word, ^(Q)as they were destined to do.

⁹ But you are ^(R)a chosen race, ^(S)a royal ^(T)priesthood, ^(U)a holy nation, ^(V)a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you ^(W)out of darkness into ^(X)his marvelous light. ^10 (Y)Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹ Beloved, I urge you ^(Z)as sojourners and exiles ^(AA)to abstain from the passions of the flesh, ^(AB)which wage war against your soul. ^12 (AC)Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, ^(AD)they may see your good deeds and glorify God on ^(AE)the day of visitation.

Submission to Authority

^13 (AF)Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,^[b] whether it be to the emperor^[c] as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him ^(AG)to punish those who do evil and ^(AH)to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, ^(AI)that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ^16 (AJ)Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but ^(AK)living as servants^[d] of God. ^17 (AL)Honor everyone. ^(AM)Love the brotherhood. ^(AN)Fear God. Honor the emperor.

^18 (AO)Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹ For this is a gracious thing, when, ^(AP)mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But ^(AQ)if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹ For ^(AR)to this you have been called, ^(AS)because Christ also suffered for you, ^(AT)leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ^22 (AU)He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ^23 (AV)When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, ^(AW)but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ^24 (AX)He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we ^(AY)might die to sin and ^(AZ)live to righteousness. ^(BA)By his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵ For ^(BB)you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to ^(BC)the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.