Ezekiel 38

1 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 toward Gog, of 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 says the LORD: "Look, I am against you, Gog, 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 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 armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them armed with 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 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 troops; 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 ready and stay ready, 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 shall be summoned: in the latter years you shall come to a land that is restored from war, a gathering from many peoples on the mountains of Israel, that had long been in ruins. Its people were brought out from the peoples, and all of them now live securely.

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 shall advance, coming like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you, all your troops, and the many other 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: "It shall happen on that day, that thoughts shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an an evil scheme:

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 shall say, 'I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who 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 seize spoil and carry off plunder; to turn my hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, acquired livestock and goods, who live at the center 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, with all its young warriors will say to you, 'Have you assembled your armies to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to to seize 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 tell Gog, 'Thus says the LORD: "On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, you will take notice?

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 shall 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 and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud covering the land. But when this happens in future days, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me, Gog, when through you I show my holiness in their sight."

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: "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied 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 But it shall happen on that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel,' says the LORD, 'that my hot anger will be aroused.

[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 zeal, in the fire of my fury, I declare that on 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 fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all crawling creatures who crawl on the land, and all people who are on the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs 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 I will call for a sword against him on all my mountains,' says the LORD: '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 With pestilence and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, torrential rains and 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 I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight 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].’”