Prophecy Against Gog

38 The ·Lord spoke his word [^Lword of the Lord came] to me, saying, ² “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], ·look [^Lturn your face] toward Gog of the land of Magog [Rev. 20:8], the chief ·ruler [prince] of the nations of Meshech and Tubal [^Ctwo nations in northeast Asia Minor; 32:26]. Prophesy against him ³ and say, ‘The Lord God says this: [^LLook; ^TBehold] I am against you, Gog, chief ·ruler [prince] of Meshech and Tubal. ⁴ I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws. And I will bring you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of whom will be dressed in ·beautiful uniforms [or full armor]. They will be a ·large army [great horde/host] with large and small shields and all ·having [brandishing; wielding] swords. ⁵ Persia, Cush [^CEthiopia], and Put [^CLydia] will be with them, all of them having shields and helmets. ⁶ There will also be Gomer [^Cpeople living north of the Black Sea; Gen. 10:3; 1 Chr. 1:6] with all its ·troops [hordes] and the nation of Beth-Togarmah [27:14; Gen. 10:3] from the far north with all its troops—many nations with you.

⁷ “‘Be prepared. Be prepared, you and all the ·armies [hosts; hordes] that have come together to ·make you their commander [or be a guard for them]. ⁸ After ·a long time [^Lmany days] you will be ·called for service [called to arms; mustered]. ·After those [In the latter] years you will come into a land that has been ·rebuilt [recovered; restored] from war. The people in the land will have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which were ·empty [in ruins; a wasteland] for a long time. These people were brought out from the nations, and they will all be living in safety. ⁹ You will ·come [advance] like a storm. You, all your troops, and the many nations with you will be like a cloud covering the land.

¹⁰ “‘This is what the Lord God says: ·At that time [^LOn that day] ideas will come into your mind, and you will ·think up [devise] an evil plan. ¹¹ You will say, “I will ·march [^Lgo up] against a land of towns without walls. I will ·attack [^Lcome to] those who are at rest and live in safety. All of them live without city walls or gate bars or gates. ¹² I will ·capture treasures [plunder] and take loot. I will turn my ·power [^Lhand] against the ·rebuilt [resettled; inhabited] ruins that now have people living in them. ·I will attack […and] these people who have been gathered from the nations, who have become rich with ·farm animals [livestock] and ·property [goods], who live at the center of the world.” ¹³ Sheba [27:22], Dedan [27:20], and the traders of Tarshish [27:12], with all its ·villages [or warriors; ^Lyoung lions], will say to you, “Did you come to ·capture treasure [plunder]? Did you bring your troops together to take loot? Did you bring them to carry away silver and gold and to take away ·farm animals [livestock] and property?”’

¹⁴ “So prophesy, ·human [^Tson of man; 2:1], and say to Gog, ‘This is what the Lord God says: ·Now [^LOn the day] that my people Israel are living in safety, you will know about it. ¹⁵ You will come with many people from your place in the ·far [or remote parts of the] north. You will have ·a large group [many nations/peoples] with you, a ·mighty army [great horde/host], all riding on horses. ¹⁶ You will ·attack [come up against] my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. This will happen in the ·days to come [latter days] when I bring you against my land. Gog, then the nations will ·know [acknowledge] me when ·they see me prove how holy I am [I vindicate my holiness] in what I do through you.

¹⁷ “‘This is what the Lord God says: ·You are [^LAre you…?] the one about whom I spoke in ·past [former] days. I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them. ¹⁸ This is what will happen: On the day Gog ·attacks [comes against] the land of Israel, ·I will become very angry [my wrath/fury will mount up/be aroused], says the Lord God. ¹⁹ With ·jealousy [zeal] and ·great anger [fiery wrath] I tell you that ·at that time [on that day] there will surely be a great earthquake in Israel. ²⁰ The fish of the sea, the birds of the ·sky [heavens], the wild ·animals [beasts], everything that crawls on the ground, and all the people on the earth will ·shake with fear [tremble; quake] before me. Also the mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹ Then I will call for a ·war [^Lsword] against Gog on all my mountains, says the Lord God. Everyone’s sword will ·attack the soldier next to him [^Lbe against his brother]. ²² I will ·punish [execute judgment on] Gog with ·disease [plague; pestilence] and ·death [bloodshed]. I will send a heavy rain with hailstones and ·burning sulfur [brimstone] on Gog, his ·army [hordes], and the many nations with him. ²³ Then I will show how great I am. I will show my holiness, and I will make myself known ·to the many nations that watch [^Lin the eyes of many nations]. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

The Death of Gog and His Army

39 “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], prophesy against Gog and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Gog, chief ·ruler [prince] of Meshech and Tubal [38:2]. ² I will turn you around and ·lead [drag; or drive] you. I will bring you from the ·far [remotest] north and send you to attack the mountains of Israel. ³ I will knock your bow out of your left hand and ·throw down [make fall] your arrows from your right hand. ⁴ You, all your troops, and the nations with you will fall dead on the mountains of Israel. I will let you be ·food for [devoured by] every bird ·that eats meat [of prey; Rev. 19:21] and for every ·wild animal [beast of the field]. ⁵ You will ·lie fallen on the ground [fall in the open field], because I have spoken, says the Lord God. ⁶ I will send fire on Magog and those who live in safety on the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

⁷ “‘I will make my holy name known among my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be ·dishonored [defiled; profaned; ^Critually] anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. ⁸ [^LLook; ^TBehold] It is coming! It will happen, says the Lord God. The ·time [^Lday] I talked about is coming.

⁹ “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will come out and make fires with the enemy’s weapons. They will burn them, both large and small shields, bows and arrows, war clubs, and spears. They will use the weapons to burn in their fires for seven years. ¹⁰ They will not need to take wood from the field or chop firewood from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. In this way they will ·take the treasures of [plunder] those who ·took their treasures [plundered them]; they will take the loot of those who took their loot, says the Lord God.

¹¹ “‘·At that time [^LOn that day] I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the road for travelers. Gog and all his ·army [hordes; multitudes] will be buried there, so people will call it The Valley of ·Gog’s Army [^LHamon-gog].

¹² “‘The ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel will be burying them for seven months to ·make the land clean again [cleanse the land]. ¹³ All the people in the land will bury them, and ·they will be honored [or it will be a memorial for them; or their fame will spread] on the day ·of my victory [I display my glory; ^Chis manifest presence], says the Lord God.

¹⁴ “‘The ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel will ·choose [appoint] men to work through the land to ·make it clean [cleanse/purify it]. Along with others, they will bury ·Gog’s soldiers still [^Lthose] lying dead on the ground. After the seven months, they will ·still search [or begin their search]. ¹⁵ As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone is to put a ·marker [sign] by it. The sign will stay there until the gravediggers bury the bone in The Valley of ·Gog’s Army [^LHamon-gog]. ¹⁶ A city will be there named Hamonah [^Cperhaps a feminine form of Hamon-gog, meaning Army of Gog]. So they will ·make the land clean again [cleanse/purify the land].’

¹⁷ “·Human [^TSon of man; 2:1], this is what the Lord God says: Speak to every kind of bird and ·wild animal [all the beasts of the field]: ‘·Come [Assemble] together, come! ·Come together [Gather] from all around to my ·sacrifice [or slaughter], a great ·sacrifice [or slaughter] which I will prepare for you on the mountains of Israel. Eat flesh and drink blood [Rev. 19:17–21]! ¹⁸ You are to eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the ·rulers [princes] of the earth ·as if they were [^Lall of them] fat animals from Bashan: ·male sheep [rams], lambs, goats, and bulls. ¹⁹ You are to eat and drink from my sacrifice which I have prepared for you, eating fat until you are ·full [satisfied; glutted] and drinking blood until you are drunk. ²⁰ At my table you are to eat until you are full of horses and ·riders [or charioteers], ·mighty men [warriors] and all kinds of soldiers,’ says the Lord God.

²¹ “I will ·show [display] my glory [^Cmanifest presence] among the nations. All the nations will see ·my power when I punish [^Lthe judgment I executed and the hand I laid on] them. ²² From that time onward the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. ²³ The nations will know [^Lthe house of] Israel ·was taken away captive [went into exile] because they sinned and were unfaithful to me. So I ·turned away [^Lhid my face] from them and handed them over to their enemies until all of them died ·in war [^Lby the sword]. ²⁴ Because of their uncleanness [^Critual] and their ·sins [transgressions], I ·punished [dealt with] them and ·turned away [hid my face] from them.

²⁵ “So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will ·bring the people of Jacob back from captivity [^Lrestore the fortunes of Jacob], and I will have ·mercy [compassion] on the whole ·nation [^Lhouse] of Israel. I will ·not let them dishonor me [^Lbe zealous/jealous for my holy name]. ²⁶ The people will forget their shame and ·how they rejected [their unfaithfulness to] me when they live again in safety on their own land with no one to make them afraid. ²⁷ I will bring the people back from ·other lands [the nations/peoples] and gather them from the lands of their enemies. So I will use my people to ·show many nations that I am holy [^Ldisplay my holiness in the eyes of many nations.]. ²⁸ Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into ·captivity [exile] among the nations, but then I ·brought them back [gathered them] to their own land, leaving no one behind. ²⁹ I will not ·turn away [^Lhide my face] from them anymore, because I will put my ·Spirit [or spirit] into the ·people [^Lhouse] of Israel, says the Lord God [11:19; 36:26–27; 37:14].”