Ezekiel 39

1 “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.

[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.

2 I will turn you around, 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 turn you around and drag you [and your armies] from far north [of Israel] and send you to [fight on] the mountains in Israel.

3 I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.

When you are there, I will snatch your bows from your left hands and cause your arrows to fall from your right hands.

4 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 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.

5 You will fall on the open field, for I have spoken it,” says the Lord Yahweh.

You will die in the open fields. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh the Lord, [have said that it will happen].

6 “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 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].

7 “‘“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.

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.

8 Behold, it comes, and it will be done,” says the Lord Yahweh. “This is the day about which I have spoken.

[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.

9 “‘“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;

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.

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.

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].

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’.

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’.

12 “‘“The house of Israel will be burying them for seven months, that they may cleanse the land.

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].

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.

All the people of Israel will [do the work of] burying them. The day when I [win that victory] they will honor me.

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.

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.

15 Those who search 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.

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.

16 Hamonah will also be the name of a city. Thus they will cleanse the land.”’

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).’”

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.

[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.

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.

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].

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.

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.

20 You shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men, and with all men of war,” says the Lord Yahweh.’

[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.

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.

I will show [people of] many nations that I am glorious, and all those nations will see how I punish them [DOU].

22 So the house of Israel will know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward.

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].

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.

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.

24 I did to them according to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions. I hid my face from them.

I punished them like they deserved to be punished because of their disgusting behavior and sins, and I turned away from them [MTY].

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.

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.

26 They will forget their shame and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they dwell securely in their land. No one will make them afraid

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].

27 when I have brought them back from the peoples, gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am shown holy among them in the sight of many nations.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.”