Ezekiel 38

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me,

2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of the head of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy about 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 you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of the head of 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 And I will turn you around, and I will place a bit in your jaws. And I will lead you away, with all your army, the horses and the horsemen all clothed in armor, a great multitude, equipped with spears and light shields and 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 the Persians, the Ethiopians, and the Libyans with them, all with heavy shields and helmets,

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

6 Gomer, and all his companies, the house of Togarmah, the northern parts, and all his strength, and the 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 Prepare and equip yourself, with all your multitude which has been assembled to you. And you shall be like a commandment 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. At the end of the years, you will arrive at the land which was turned back by the sword, and which has been gathered from many peoples to the mountains of Israel that have been continually abandoned. These ones have been led away from the peoples, and all of them will be living confidently within it.

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 But you will ascend and arrive like a tempest and like a cloud, so that you may cover the land, you and all your companies, and the 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 Thus says the Lord God: In that day, words will climb into your heart, and you will invent a most wicked 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 And you will say: ‘I will ascend to the land without a wall. I will go to those who are resting and dwelling securely. All these live without a wall; they have no bars or 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 Thus, you will plunder spoils, and you will take possession of prey, so that you may lay your hand upon those who had been abandoned, and afterwards were restored, and upon a people who were gathered away from the Gentiles, a people who have begun to possess, and to be the inhabitants of, the navel 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, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, and all its lions will say to you: ‘Could you have arrived in order to purchase from the spoils? Behold, you have gathered your multitude in order to plunder a prey, so that you may take silver and gold, and carry away equipment and substance, and plunder immeasurable wealth.’

[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 Because of this, son of man, prophesy, and you shall say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God: How is it that you do not know of that day, when my people, Israel, will be living in confidence?

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 And you will advance from your place, from the parts of the north, you and the many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and an immense 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 And you will rise up over my people, Israel, like a cloud, so that you may cover the earth. In the latter days, you will be. And I will lead you over my own land, so that the Gentiles may know me, when I will have been sanctified in you, O 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 Thus says the Lord God: Therefore, you are the one, about whom I spoke in the days of antiquity, by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times that I would lead you over 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 And this shall be in that day, in the day of the advent of Gog over the land of Israel, says the Lord God: my indignation will rise up in my fury.

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

19 And I have spoken, in my zeal and in the fire of my wrath, that there shall be a great commotion over the land of Israel, in that day.

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 And before my face there shall be stirred up: the fish of the sea, and the flying things of the air, and the beasts of the field, and every crawling thing that moves across the soil, and all the men who are upon the face of the earth. And the mountains will be overturned, and the hedges will fall, and every wall will fall in ruin 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 And I will call for the sword against him on all my mountains, says the Lord God. Each one’s sword will be directed toward 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 And I will judge him by pestilence, and blood, and violent rainstorms, and immense hailstones. I will rain fire and brimstone upon him, and upon his army, and upon the many peoples who are with him.

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 And I will be magnified and sanctified. And I will be known in the eyes of the many nations. And they shall 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].’”