2 But also [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

² And many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed.

³ And in their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning) arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep.

⁴ For God did not [even] spare angels that sinned, but cast them into hell, delivering them to be kept there in pits of gloom till the judgment and their doom.

⁵ And He spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven other persons, when He brought a flood upon the world of ungodly [people].^(A)

⁶ And He condemned to ruin and extinction the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, reducing them to ashes [and thus] set them forth as an example to those who would be ungodly;^(B)

⁷ And He rescued righteous Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless—^(C)

⁸ For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds—

⁹ Now if [all these things are true, then be sure] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptations and trials, and how to keep the ungodly under chastisement until the day of judgment and doom,

¹⁰ And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling,

¹¹ Whereas [even] angels, though superior in might and power, do not bring a defaming charge against them before the Lord.

¹² But these [people]! Like unreasoning beasts, mere creatures of instinct, born [only] to be captured and destroyed, railing at things of which they are ignorant, they shall utterly perish in their [own] corruption [in their destroying they shall surely be destroyed],

¹³ Being destined to receive [punishment as] the reward of [their] unrighteousness [suffering wrong as the hire for their wrongdoing]. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously and delicately]. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their ^[a]deceptions and carousing together [even] as they feast with you.

¹⁴ They have eyes full of harlotry, insatiable for sin. They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness (lust, greed), [they are] children of a curse [^[b]exposed to cursing]!

¹⁵ Forsaking the straight road they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam [the son] of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness.^(D)

¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his own transgression when a dumb beast of burden spoke with human voice and checked the prophet’s madness.^(E)

¹⁷ These are springs without water and mists driven along before a tempest, for whom is reserved forever the gloom of darkness.

¹⁸ For uttering loud boasts of folly, they beguile and lure with lustful desires of the flesh those who are barely escaping from them who are wrongdoers.

¹⁹ They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement—for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.

²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first.

²¹ For never to have obtained a [full, personal] knowledge of the way of righteousness would have been better for them than, having obtained [such knowledge], to turn back from the holy commandment which was [verbally] delivered to them.

²² There has befallen them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and, The sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire.^(F)

39 And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince (ruler) of Rosh, of Meshech, and of Tubal.

² And I will turn you about and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north and will lead you against the mountains of Israel;

³ And I will smite your bow from your left hand and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.

⁴ You shall fall [dead] upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your hosts and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

⁵ You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken [it], says the Lord God.

⁶ I will send fire on Magog and upon those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].

⁷ And I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name any more; and the nations shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

⁸ Behold, it is coming and it will be done, says the Lord God; that is the day of which I have spoken.

⁹ And [when you, Gog, are no longer] they who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth and shall set on fire and burn the battle gear, the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, the handspikes or riding whips and the spears; and they shall burn them as fuel for seven years,

¹⁰ So that My people shall take no firewood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they shall make their fires of the weapons. And they shall despoil those who despoiled them and plunder those who plundered them, says the Lord God.

¹¹ And in that day, I will give to Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east side in front of the [Dead] Sea [the highway between Syria, Petra, and Egypt], and it will delay and stop those who pass through. And there shall they ^[a]bury Gog and all his multitude, and they shall call it the Valley of Hamon-gog [multitude of Gog].

¹² For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, that they may cleanse the land.

¹³ Yes, all the people of the land will bury them, and it shall bring them renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord God.

¹⁴ And they shall set apart men to work continually who shall pass through the land, men commissioned to bury, with the help of those who are passing by, those bodies that lie unburied on the face of the ground, in order to cleanse the land. After the end of seven months they shall make their search.

¹⁵ And when these pass through the land and anyone sees a human bone, he shall set up a marker by it as a sign to the buriers, until they have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog or of Gog’s multitude.

¹⁶ And Hamonah [multitude] shall also be the name of the city [of the dead]. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

¹⁷ And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Say to the birds of prey of every sort and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and come, gather from every side to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, even a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel at which you may eat flesh and drink blood.

¹⁸ You shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, of goats, and of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan [east of the Jordan].

¹⁹ And you shall eat fat till you are filled and drink blood till you are drunk at the sacrificial feast which I am preparing for you.

²⁰ And you shall be filled at My table with horses and riders, with mighty men, and with soldiers of every kind, says the Lord God.

²¹ And I will manifest My honor and glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgment and justice [in the punishment] which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them.

²² So the house of Israel shall know, understand, and realize beyond all question that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.

²³ And the nations shall know, understand, and realize positively that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against Me; and I hid My face from them. So I gave them into the hand of their enemies and they all fell [into captivity or were slain] by the power of the sword.^(A)

²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them and hid My face from them.

²⁵ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now will I reverse the captivity of Jacob and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel and will be jealous for My holy name.

²⁶ They shall forget their shame and self-reproach and all their treachery and unfaithfulness in which they have transgressed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land and there is none who makes them afraid.

²⁷ When I have brought them again from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and My justice and holiness are set apart and vindicated through them in the sight of many nations,

²⁸ Then shall they know, understand, and realize positively that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into captivity and exile among the nations and then gathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations any more [in the latter days].

²⁹ Neither will I hide My face any more then from them, when I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, says the Lord God.

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity [by Babylon], in the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city [of Jerusalem] was taken, on the very same day the hand of the Lord was upon me and He brought me to that place.

² In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me down upon a very high mountain, on the south side of which there was what seemed to be the structure of a city.

³ He brought me there, and behold, there was a man [an angel] whose appearance was like bronze, with a line of flax and a measuring reed in his hand, and he stood in the gateway.

⁴ And the man said to me, Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears and set your heart and mind on all that I will show you, for you are brought here that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.

⁵ And behold, there was a wall all around the outside area of the house [of the Lord], and in the man’s hand a measuring reed six long cubits in length, each cubit being longer [than the usual one] by a handbreadth; so he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed, and the height, one reed.

⁶ Then he came to the gate which faced the east and went up its [seven] steps and measured the threshold of the gateway, one reed broad, and the other threshold of the gateway [inside the thick wall], one reed broad.

⁷ And every room for the guards was one reed long and one reed broad, and the space between the guardrooms or lodges was five cubits. And the threshold of the gate by the porch or vestibule of the gateway within was one reed.

⁸ He measured also the porch or vestibule of the gate toward the house [of the Lord], one reed.

⁹ Then he measured the porch or vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits, and its posts or jambs, two cubits. And the porch or vestibule of the gate was inside [toward the house of the Lord].

¹⁰ And the guardrooms or lodges of the east gateway were three on this side and three on that side; the three were the same size, and the posts or jambs were the same size on either side.

¹¹ And he measured the breadth of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits, and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits.

¹² And a border or barrier before the guardrooms was one cubit on this side, and a border or barrier, one cubit on that side. And the guardrooms or lodges were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side.

¹³ And ^[b]the man [an angel] measured the gate from the outer wall of one chamber or guardroom to the outer wall of another—a breadth of twenty-five cubits from door to door.

¹⁴ And ^[c]the open part of the porch or vestibule of the gateway on the outside was twenty cubits, the chambers or guardrooms of the gate being round about.

¹⁵ And including this porch or vestibule of the gate on the outside and the porch or vestibule on the inside, the extent was fifty cubits.

¹⁶ And there were closed windows to the guardrooms or chambers and to their posts or pillars within the gate round about, and likewise to the archway or vestibule; and windows were round about facing into the court, and upon each post or pillar were palm tree [decorations].

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outward court, and behold, there were chambers and a pavement round about the court; thirty chambers fronted on the pavement.

¹⁸ And the pavement was along by the side of the gates, answerable to the length of the gateways; this was the lower pavement.

¹⁹ Then the man measured the distance from the inner front before the lower gate to the outer front of the inner court, a hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.

²⁰ And the gate of the outward court which faced the north, of it he measured both the length and the breadth.

²¹ And its guardrooms or lodges, three on this side and three on that side, and its posts or pillars and archway or vestibule were the same size as those of the first gate; the length was fifty cubits and the breadth twenty-five cubits.

²² And its windows and its archway or vestibule and its palm trees were of the same size as those of the gate that faces toward the east. It was reached by going up seven steps, and the archway of its vestibule was on the inner side.

²³ Opposite the gate on the north and on the east was a gate to the inner court, and he [the man with the measuring rod of reed] measured from gate to gate, a hundred cubits.

²⁴ After that the man brought me toward the south, and behold, there was a gate on the south, and he measured its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule; they measured as the others did.

²⁵ And there were windows round about in it and in its archway or vestibule, like those windows in the other gateways; its length was fifty cubits and its breadth twenty-five cubits.

²⁶ And there were seven steps going up to the gate, and its archway or vestibule was on the inside. And it had palm trees, one on this side and another on that side, carved on its posts or pillars.

²⁷ And there was a gate to the inner court on the south, and he measured from gate to gate toward the south, a hundred cubits.

²⁸ And the man [an angel] brought me into the inner court by the south gate, and he measured the south gate; its measurements were the same as those of the other gateways.

²⁹ And its guardrooms or chambers and its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule measured as did the others. And there were windows in the gateway and in its archway or vestibule round about; its length was fifty cubits and its breadth twenty-five cubits.

³⁰ And there was an archway or a vestibule round about, twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide.

³¹ And its [arched] vestibule faced the outer court; and palm trees were carved upon its posts or pillars, and the steps going up to it were eight.

³² And he brought me into the inner court toward the east and he measured the gate; it measured the same as the others.

³³ And its guardrooms or chambers and its posts or pillars and its archway or vestibule measured as did the others. And there were windows in it and in its [arched] vestibule round about; the gateway was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁴ And its [arched] vestibule faced the outer court; and palm trees were carved upon its posts or pillars on either side, and the steps leading to it were eight.

³⁵ And the man [an angel] brought me to the north gate and measured it; the measurements were the same as those of the other gates.

³⁶ Its guardrooms or chambers, its posts or pillars, its [arched] vestibule, and the windows to it round about [were of the same size as the others]. The length of the gateway was fifty cubits and the width was twenty-five cubits.

³⁷ And its posts or pillars were toward the outer court, and palm trees were carved upon them on either side. And the approach to it had eight steps.

³⁸ There was an attached chamber with its door beside the posts or pillars of the gates where the burnt offering was to be washed.

³⁹ And in the porch or vestibule of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to slay the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass or guilt offering.

⁴⁰ And on the one side without, as one goes up to the entrance of the gate to the north, were two tables; and on the other side at the vestibule of the gate were two tables.

⁴¹ Four tables were on the inside and four tables on the outside of the side of the gate, eight tables upon which the sacrifices were to be slain.

⁴² Moreover, there were four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high. Upon them were to be laid the instruments with which were slain the burnt offering and the sacrifice.

⁴³ And slabs or hooks a handbreadth long were fastened within [the room] round about. Upon the tables was to be placed the flesh of the offering.

^44 [d]Then the man [an angel] led me [from without] into the inner court, and behold, there were two chambers in the inner court: one beside the north gate but facing the south, and one beside the south gate but looking toward the north.

⁴⁵ And the man [an angel who was guiding me] said, This chamber with its view to the south is for the priests who have charge of the house [of the Lord],

⁴⁶ And the chamber with its view to the north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who alone among the sons of Levi may come near to the Lord to minister to Him.

⁴⁷ And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was in front of the house [of the Lord].

⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the porch or vestibule of the temple proper, and he measured each post or pillar of the porch, five cubits on either side. And the width of the gate was three cubits for this [leaf] and three cubits for that one.

⁴⁹ And the length of the porch or vestibule was twenty cubits and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps by which it was reached, and there were two pillars standing on the posts [as bases] or beside them, one on either side of the entrance.