Ezekiel 39

1 "You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, 'Thus says the LORD: "Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of 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 and I will turn you around, drag you along, and bring you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against 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 Then I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will make your arrows fall from 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 troops and the people who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every king and to the beasts 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 in the open field; for I have spoken," says the LORD.

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

6 And I will send a fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands; then they will know that I am the LORD.

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 "'And I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not allow my holy name to be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, 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 Look, it is coming and it will happen, says the LORD. This is the day I have spoken about.

[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 "'Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and bucklers, bows and the arrows, war clubs and spears, and they shall make fires of 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 shall no need to take wood out of the field or gather firewood from the forests, because they shall make fires of the weapons; and they will take the spoil from those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, says the LORD.

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 "'And it shall happen on that day that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers east of the sea; and it shall block the way of the travelers. So they shall bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall 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 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to 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 shall bury them, and it shall be a memorial for them on the day that I show my glory, says the LORD.

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

14 And they shall designate men to travel through the land regularly, burying those who remain on the face of the land, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they shall make a 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 As they go through the land and anyone sees a human bone, he will put a marker next to it until the gravediggers 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 Moreover, Hamonah will be the name of a city. Thus they shall 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 "And as for you, son of man, thus says the LORD: Speak to every kind of bird and to all the wild animals, 'Assemble and come, gather from all around to my sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh 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 fattened animals 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 And you shall eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, at 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 And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with warriors and with all the soldiers,' says the LORD.

[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 "'And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment when I have executed it and my hand when I lay it 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 shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day on.

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 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to me, so I hid my face from them, and I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them 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 dealt with them according to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions, and 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 thus says the LORD: 'Now will I restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and 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 And they shall feel remorse for their disgrace and all the unfaithfulness they committed against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to 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 and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, then I will be sanctified through them in the sight of the 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 Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land; and I will leave none of them there 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 And I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the LORD."

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.”