< Ezekiel 39 >

1 [Yahweh said to me], “You human, prophesy about [more terrible things that will happen] to Gog, and say this [to him]: ‘Gog, I am opposed to you who rule Meshech and Tubal.
Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
2 I will turn you around and drag you [and your armies] from far north [of Israel] and send you to [fight on] the mountains in Israel.
And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 When you are there, I will snatch your bows from your left hands and cause your arrows to fall from your right hands.
And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 You and all the soldiers that are with you will die on the mountains in Israel. I will give your [corpses] to be food for the birds that eat [dead] flesh, and to the wild animals.
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that [is] with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and [to] the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 You will die in the open fields. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh the Lord, [have said that it will happen].
Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.
6 I will cause [many] fires to burn in Magog and among [all] those who live safely in the areas along their coasts, and they will know that it is I, Yahweh, [who have the power to do what I say that I will do].
And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.
7 I will enable my Israeli people to know that I am holy. I will no longer allow people to damage my reputation, and [people in other] nations will know that I, Yahweh the Lord, am the Holy One in Israel.
So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 [I], Yahweh the Lord, declare that it will soon be the day that those things will happen. It will be the day that I have spoken [to you] about.
Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this [is] the day whereof I have spoken.
9 At that time, those Israelis who live in the towns will go out and gather the weapons [from your dead soldiers], and use them to make fires [to cook their food]. They will burn the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs, and spears. There will be enough weapons to use as firewood for seven years.
And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
10 They will not need to gather firewood in the fields or cut wood from trees in the forests, because those weapons will be all the firewood [that they will need]. And they will take valuable things from those who took valuable things from them, and steal things from people who stole things from them. [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare [will happen].
So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down [any] out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.
11 At that time I will create a graveyard for you, Gog, [and your soldiers], in the valley east of the [Dead] Sea. That graveyard will block the road that travelers [usually walk on], because you, Gog and all [the soldiers] of your huge army will be buried there. [So] it will be named ‘the Valley of Gog’s Huge Army’.
And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the [noses] of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call [it] The valley of Hamon-gog.
12 For seven months the people of Israel will be burying those corpses. [It will be necessary to bury all of them], in order that the land will not be (defiled/considered unacceptable to me) [because of any unburied corpses].
And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13 All the people of Israel will [do the work of] burying them. The day when I [win that victory] they will honor me.
Yea, all the people of the land shall bury [them; ] and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 After those seven months are ended, the Israeli people will appoint men to go throughout the land to bury corpses, in order that the land will not remain defiled.
And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 When they go through the land, when one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it. [When] the gravediggers [see the markers, they will pick up the bones] and bury them in the Valley of Gog’s Huge Army.
And the passengers [that] pass through the land, when [any] seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
16 There will be a city there named Hamonah, [which means ‘huge army’]. And by doing this [work of burying the corpses], they will (cleanse the land/cause the land to be acceptable to me again).’”
And also the name of the city [shall be] Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 [Yahweh said to me], “You human, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: Summon every kind of bird and wild animal. Say to them, ‘Gather together from everywhere and come to the feast that Yahweh is preparing for you. [It will be] a great feast on the mountains in Israel. [There] you will eat [men’s] flesh and drink their blood.
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, [even] a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.
18 You will eat the flesh of strong soldiers and drink the blood of kings [as if they were] fat animals—rams and lambs, goats and bulls—from the Bashan [region].
Ye 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 bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 At that feast that Yahweh is preparing for you, you will eat fat until your [stomachs] are full, and you will drink blood until [it is as though] you are drunk.
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 [It will be as though] you are eating at a table that I [have set up for you. You will eat all you want of the flesh] of horses and their riders, strong soldiers [DOU] of every kind.’ [That is what I], Yahweh the Lord, declare.
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 I will show [people of] many nations that I am glorious, and all those nations will see how I punish them [DOU].
And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 After that time, the Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh their God, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].
So the house of Israel shall know that I [am] the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23 And the [people of other] nations will know that the Israeli people had been forced to go to other countries because they sinned by not being faithful to me. I (turned away from/abandoned) them, and allowed their enemies to capture them [IDM], and many [HYP] of them were killed by [their enemies’] swords.
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.
24 I punished them like they deserved to be punished because of their disgusting behavior and sins, and I turned away from them [MTY].
According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25 Therefore, this is [now] what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: I will now bring back from exile/Babylonia [the descendants of] Jacob; I will pity all the Israeli people, and I will [also] jealously protect my reputation.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
26 When the Israeli people [are back in their own country, they will] live safely in their land, with no one to cause them to be afraid, but they will be ashamed when they think about the disgraceful and unfaithful things that they did [previously].
After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made [them] afraid.
27 When I have brought them back from their enemies’ countries and gathered them together [in Israel], the people of many nations will know that I am holy.
When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28 And the Israeli people will know that I, Yahweh their Lord, [have the power to do what I say that I will do]. They will know that because [even though] I forced them to go to [other] countries, I will gather them together in their own country. I will not leave any of them in those countries.
Then shall they know that I [am] the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29 I will no longer turn away from them; I will pour out my Spirit on the Israeli people. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it.”
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

< Ezekiel 39 >