God’s Message to Gog
10 “‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And then[r] on that day, things[s] will come up on[t] your mind, and you will devise evil plans. 11 And you will say, ‘I will go up against a land of open country; I will come[u] to the people being at rest in safety,[v] all of them dwelling without a wall[w] and crossbars[x] and without doors,[y] 12 to[z] loot loot,[aa] and to plunder[ab] plunder, to assail[ac] inhabited ruins and a people gathered together from various peoples and who are acquiring livestock and goods and dwelling at the center of the world. 13 Sheba and Dedan and traders of Tarshish and all its strong lions,[ad] they will ask you, ‘To[ae] loot loot[af] are you coming? To plunder[ag] plunder have you summoned your assembly, to take away silver and gold, to take livestock and goods, to loot great amounts[ah] of loot?”’
14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man,[ai] and you must say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will you not realize[aj] on that day when my people Israel are dwelling in safety,[ak] 15 and so you will come from your place, from the remote areas of the north, you and many people with you, horsemen[al] all of them, a great crowd and a vast army, 16 and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud covering[am] the land; it will be[an] in the last days, and I will bring you against my land, so that the nations know me, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes, O Gog!”’
17 “Thus says the Lord Yahweh, ‘Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel who were prophesying in those days for years that I would bring you against them? 18 And so then in that day, on the day of the coming of God against the land of Israel,’ declares[ao] the Lord Yahweh, ‘my rage will come up in my anger. 19 And in my passion, in the fire of my wrath, I spoke[ap] that certainly[aq] on that day a great earthquake will be on the land of Israel. 20 And the fish of the sea and the birds[ar] of the heaven[as] and the animals[at] of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humans[au] who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence;[av] and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall on[aw] the earth will fall. 21 And I will call against him[ax] in all of my mountains a sword,’ declares[ay] the Lord Yahweh, ‘And the sword of each person will be against his brother. 22 And I will execute justice with[az] him with a plague and with blood and torrents of rain,[ba] and hailstones; fire and sulfur I will cause to fall on him and on his troops and on many peoples who are with him. 23 And so I will exalt myself, and I will show myself holy, and I will make myself known before the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 38:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 38:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 38:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 38:2 Or “chief”
- Ezekiel 38:3 Or “chief”
- Ezekiel 38:4 Or “give”
- Ezekiel 38:4 Literally “clothed of fullness”
- Ezekiel 38:4 Or “buckler”
- Ezekiel 38:4 Or “wielding”
- Ezekiel 38:7 Literally “for you”
- Ezekiel 38:7 Or “battalions” or “hoards”
- Ezekiel 38:7 Or “assemblies”
- Ezekiel 38:7 Or “serve”
- Ezekiel 38:8 Or “final years”; literally “in the last of the years”
- Ezekiel 38:8 Literally “ruins continually/permanently”
- Ezekiel 38:8 Literally “with confidence/assurance/trust”
- Ezekiel 38:9 Literally “to cover”
- Ezekiel 38:10 Literally “and it will be”
- Ezekiel 38:10 Or “thoughts”
- Ezekiel 38:10 Or “in”
- Ezekiel 38:11 Or “go”
- Ezekiel 38:11 Literally “with confidence”
- Ezekiel 38:11 Or “walls”
- Ezekiel 38:11 Hebrew “crossbar”
- Ezekiel 38:11 Literally “and doors there are not for them”
- Ezekiel 38:12 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 38:12 Or “war-booty”; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
- Ezekiel 38:12 Or “seize”; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
- Ezekiel 38:12 Literally “to bring back your hand against”; NJPS, “to turn your hand against”
- Ezekiel 38:13 Or “all of its violent leaders”
- Ezekiel 38:13 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 38:13 Or “war-booty” this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
- Ezekiel 38:13 Or “seize”; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
- Ezekiel 38:13 Hebrew “amount”
- Ezekiel 38:14 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 38:14 LXX reads, “stir up/rouse yourself”
- Ezekiel 38:14 Literally “with confidence/trust”
- Ezekiel 38:15 Literally “riders of horsemen”
- Ezekiel 38:16 Literally “to cover”
- Ezekiel 38:16 Or “occur”
- Ezekiel 38:18 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 38:19 Or “I asserted”
- Ezekiel 38:19 Literally “if not”
- Ezekiel 38:20 Hebrew “bird”
- Ezekiel 38:20 Or “sky”
- Ezekiel 38:20 Hebrew “animal”
- Ezekiel 38:20 Or “every human being”
- Ezekiel 38:20 Literally “from the face of me”
- Ezekiel 38:20 Or “to”
- Ezekiel 38:21 Or “summon against him” (cf. NJPS)
- Ezekiel 38:21 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 38:22 Or “with respect to him”
- Ezekiel 38:22 Literally “rain flooding/pouring down”