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39 “You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you onto the mountains of Israel. I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured. You will fall on the open field; for I have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh. “I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell securely in the islands. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.

“‘“I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I won’t allow my holy name to be profaned any more. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it comes, and it will be done,” says the Lord Yahweh. “This is the day about which I have spoken.

“‘“Those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, and will make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs and the spears, and they will make fires with them for seven years; 10 so that they will take no wood out of the field, and not cut down any out of the forests; for they will make fires with the weapons. They will plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them,” says the Lord Yahweh.

11 “‘“It will happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it will stop those who pass through. They will bury Gog and all his multitude there; and they will call it ‘The valley of Hamon Gog’.

12 “‘“The house of Israel will be burying them for seven months, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and they will become famous in the day that I will be glorified,” says the Lord Yahweh.

14 “‘“They will set apart men of continual employment, who will pass through the land. Those who pass through will go with those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it. After the end of seven months they will search. 15 Those who pass through the land will pass through; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, then he will set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog. 16 Hamonah will also be the name of a city. Thus they will cleanse the land.”’

17 “You, son of man, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal of the field, “Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat meat 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, and of goats, of bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 You shall eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war,” says the Lord Yahweh.’

21 “I will set my glory among the nations. Then all the nations will see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward. 23 The nations will know 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 adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I did to them according to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions. I hid my face from them.

25 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Now I will reverse the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel. I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They will bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they dwell securely in their land, and no one will make them afraid, 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. 28 They will know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land. Then I will leave none of them captive any more. 29 I won’t hide my face from them any more; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”

The Slaughter of Gog’s Hordes

39 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am your enemy, O Gog, ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. I will knock the bow from your left hand and the arrows from your right hand, and I will leave you helpless. You and your army and your allies will all die on the mountains. I will feed you to the vultures and wild animals. You will fall in the open fields, for I have spoken, says the Sovereign Lord. And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

“In this way, I will make known my holy name among my people of Israel. I will not let anyone bring shame on it. And the nations, too, will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. That day of judgment will come, says the Sovereign Lord. Everything will happen just as I have declared it.

“Then the people in the towns of Israel will go out and pick up your small and large shields, bows and arrows, javelins and spears, and they will use them for fuel. There will be enough to last them seven years! 10 They won’t need to cut wood from the fields or forests, for these weapons will give them all the fuel they need. They will plunder those who planned to plunder them, and they will rob those who planned to rob them, says the Sovereign Lord.

11 “And I will make a vast graveyard for Gog and his hordes in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea.[a] It will block the way of those who travel there, and they will change the name of the place to the Valley of Gog’s Hordes. 12 It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury the bodies and cleanse the land. 13 Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel when I demonstrate my glory on that day, says the Sovereign Lord.

14 “After seven months, teams of men will be appointed to search the land for skeletons to bury, so the land will be made clean again. 15 Whenever bones are found, a marker will be set up so the burial crews will take them to be buried in the Valley of Gog’s Hordes. 16 (There will be a town there named Hamonah, which means ‘horde.’) And so the land will finally be cleansed.

17 “And now, son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call all the birds and wild animals. Say to them: Gather together for my great sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel, and there eat flesh and drink blood! 18 Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of princes as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all fattened animals from Bashan! 19 Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted; drink blood until you are drunk. This is the sacrificial feast I have prepared for you. 20 Feast at my banquet table—feast on horses and charioteers, on mighty men and all kinds of valiant warriors, says the Sovereign Lord.

21 “In this way, I will demonstrate my glory to the nations. Everyone will see the punishment I have inflicted on them and the power of my fist when I strike. 22 And from that time on the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 The nations will then know why Israel was sent away to exile—it was punishment for sin, for they were unfaithful to their God. Therefore, I turned away from them and let their enemies destroy them. 24 I turned my face away and punished them because of their defilement and their sins.

Restoration for God’s People

25 “So now, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will end the captivity of my people[b]; I will have mercy on all Israel, for I jealously guard my holy reputation! 26 They will accept responsibility for[c] their past shame and unfaithfulness after they come home to live in peace in their own land, with no one to bother them. 27 When I bring them home from the lands of their enemies, I will display my holiness among them for all the nations to see. 28 Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them away to exile and brought them home again. I will leave none of my people behind. 29 And I will never again turn my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

Footnotes

  1. 39:11 Hebrew the sea.
  2. 39:25 Hebrew of Jacob.
  3. 39:26 A few Hebrew manuscripts read They will forget.