38:1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
38:2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
38:3 and say, ‘This is what the Lord ①GOD says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch
38:4 So I will turn you around and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently dressed, a great contingent with shield and ①buckler, all of them wielding swords;
▷ ①I.e., small shield
38:5 Persia, ①Cush, and Put with them, all of them with buckler and helmet;
▷ ①Or Ethiopia
38:6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.
38:7 “Be ready, and be prepared, you and all your contingents that are assembled around you, and be a guard for them.
38:8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many ①nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual place of ruins; but ②its people were brought out from the ③nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
▷ ①Lit peoples ②Lit it was ③Lit peoples
38:9 And you will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”
38:10 ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “It will come about on that day, that ①thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan,
▷ ①Lit words
38:11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of ①unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,
▷ ①Or open country
38:12 to capture spoils and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who live at the ①center of the world.’
▷ ①Lit navel
38:13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its ①villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoils? Have you assembled your contingent to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to capture great spoils?’ ” ’
▷ ①As in ancient versions; MT young lions
38:14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?
38:15 You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding horses, a large assembly and a mighty army;
38:16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy through you before their eyes, Gog.”
38:17 ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?
38:18 It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord GOD, “that My fury will mount up in My anger.
38:19 In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will certainly be a great ①earthquake in the land of Israel.
▷ ①Or shaking
38:20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all the crawling things that crawl on the earth, and all mankind who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; and the mountains will be thrown down, the steep pathways will ①collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.
▷ ①Lit fall
38:21 And I will call for a sword against ①him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord GOD. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
▷ ①I.e., Gog
38:22 With plague and with blood 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, ①a torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
▷ ①Lit an overflowing
38:23 So I will prove Myself great, show Myself holy, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.” ’