Ezekiel 38

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Yahweh gave me another message. He said to me,

2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of 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, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince 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 thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, 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, Ethiopia, and Libya 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 bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.

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 thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

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

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land [that is] brought back from the sword, [and is] gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely 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 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

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 saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, [that] at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

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 thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, 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 a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places [that are now] inhabited, and upon the people [that are] gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

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, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

[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 say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou 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 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon 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 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, 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 saith the Lord GOD; [Art] thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days [many] years that I would bring thee 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 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, [that] my fury shall come up in my face.

[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 have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of 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 fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that [are] upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall 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 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall 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 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that [are] with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

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 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of 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].’”