Ezekiel 38

1 The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me,

2 “Son of man, set your face towards Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

“You human, turn and face Magog, the country where Gog [is the king]. He is [also] the ruler of [the nations of] Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy about [the terrible things that will happen to] him,

3 and say, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

and say, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: Gog, you who rule Meshech and Tubal, I am opposed to you.

4 I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armour, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;

[It will be as though] I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws and bring you [to Israel]—you and all of your army, [including your] horses and men carrying weapons who ride the horses, and many other soldiers carrying large shields and small shields, all of them carrying swords.

5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

[Armies from] Persia, Ethiopia, and Put/Libya will also come, all of them with shields and helmets.

6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes—even many peoples with you.

An army from Gomer [north of Israel] will come, and an army from Togarmah far north [of Israel] will come. Armies of many nations will accompany you.’

7 “‘“Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.

[Tell Gog, ] ‘Get ready and be prepared to be the commander of all those groups of soldiers.

8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought out of the peoples and they will dwell securely, all of them.

At some future time, I will command you to lead those armies to attack [Israel], a country whose [buildings] have been rebuilt after [they were destroyed in] wars. Their people will have been brought back from many nations [to live again] on the hills of Israel, which had been deserted for a long time. They had been brought back from [other] nations and will be living peacefully.

9 You will ascend. You will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.”

You and all those armies from many nations will go up to Israel, advancing like [SIM] a big storm. Your army will be like a huge cloud that covers the land.

10 “‘The Lord GOD says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan.

But this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: On that day, you will have an idea about [DOU] doing an evil thing.

11 You will say, ‘I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

You will say [to yourself], “My [army] will invade a country where the villages do not have walls around them. We will attack people who are peaceful and do not suspect/think [that they will be attacked]. Their towns and villages do not have walls with gates and bars.

12 to take the plunder and to take prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.’

So [it will be easy for] us to attack the people who are living again in those towns that were previously destroyed. They are people who have been gathered from many countries [where they had lived for many years], people who now live safely in their land with all their livestock and other possessions. They are living in the country that is in the middle of the most important countries (OR, [that they think is] [IRO] the most important country) in the world. Our soldiers will take away [DOU] all their valuable possessions.”

13 Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its young lions, will ask you, ‘Have you come to take the plunder? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’

[Then people of] Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and nearby villages will come and say to you, “Are you gathering all your soldiers in order to [attack Israel and] take away all their silver and gold? [Do you plan] to take away their livestock and all their other valuable possessions [DOU]?”’

14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, ‘The Lord GOD says: “In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, will you not know it?

Therefore, you human, prophesy about Gog and say to him, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: At that time, when my people of Israel are living safely, you will certainly think about that.

15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army.

So you will come from your place far north [of Israel], with the armies of many [other] nations, all riding horses, a huge army.

16 You will come up against my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It will happen in the latter days that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me when I am sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.”

You will march toward my Israeli people, and [your soldiers] will cover the land like a huge cloud. Gog, I will bring your army to attack the country that belongs to me, but [what I do] for you will show the people of other nations that I am holy.

17 “‘The Lord GOD says: “Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them?

This is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say to Gog: In past years, when I gave messages to my servants, the prophets [in Israel], there were messages [RHQ] about you. At that time, they prophesied for [many] years that I would bring your [armies] to attack my people.

18 It will happen in that day, when Gog comes against Eretz-Israel,” says the Lord GOD, “that my wrath will come up into my nostrils.

[So] this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say will happen: When your [army] attacks Israel, I will be very angry with you.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken. Surely in that day there will be a great shaking in Eretz-Israel,

I will be very furious, and to show that I am angry, there will be a great earthquake in Israel, [where your armies will be].

20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence. Then the mountains will be thrown down, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.

The fish in the sea, the birds, the wild animals, and the animals/creatures that crawl on the ground, and all the people on the earth will tremble because of what I [am doing]. Mountains will fall down, cliffs will crumble, and walls everywhere will fall to the ground.

21 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,” says the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.

Gog, on all the mountains in the country that belongs to me I will cause your soldiers to fight against each other with their swords.

22 I will enter into judgement with him with pestilence and with blood. I will rain on him, on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, torrential rains with great hailstones, fire, and sulphur.

I will punish [MTY] you [and your soldiers] with plagues and murders [MTY]. And I will send down [from the sky], on you and your troops that have come from many nations, huge amounts of rain and hail and burning sulfur.

23 I will magnify myself and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”’

By doing that, I will cause [the people of] many nations to know that I am very great and holy, and they will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do the things that I say that I will do].’”