Ezekiel 38 - Lexham English Bible (LEB)

God’s Message to Gog

38 And the word of Yahweh came^[a] to me, saying,^{[b] 2} “Son of man,^[c] set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the head^[d] leader of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. ³ And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, Gog, the head^[e] leader of Meshach and Tubal, ⁴ and I will turn you around, and I will place^[f] hooks in your cheeks, and I will bring you out and all of your horses and horsemen fully armed,^[g] all of them, a great crowd, holding a shield,^[h] and small shield, and holding^[i] swords, all of them. ⁵ Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them, with a small shield and helmet. ⁶ Gomer and all of its troops, Beth Togarmah, the remote areas of the north, and with all of its troops and many peoples with them. ⁷ Be ready, and prepare yourselves,^[j] you and all of your assembly,^[k] the assembling^[l] around you, and you must be^[m] for them as a guard. ⁸ After many days you will be mustered; in the last years^[n] you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as permanent ruins^[o] but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell in safety,^[p] all of them. ⁹ And you will advance like a storm; you will come, and you will be like a cloud covering^[q] the land, and all of your troops and many nations along with you.”

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

1. Ezekiel 38:1 Literally “was”
2. Ezekiel 38:1 Literally “to say”
3. Ezekiel 38:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
4. Ezekiel 38:2 Or “chief”
5. Ezekiel 38:3 Or “chief”
6. Ezekiel 38:4 Or “give”
7. Ezekiel 38:4 Literally “clothed of fullness”
8. Ezekiel 38:4 Or “buckler”
9. Ezekiel 38:4 Or “wielding”
10. Ezekiel 38:7 Literally “for you”
11. Ezekiel 38:7 Or “battalions” or “hoards”
12. Ezekiel 38:7 Or “assemblies”
13. Ezekiel 38:7 Or “serve”
14. Ezekiel 38:8 Or “final years”; literally “in the last of the years”
15. Ezekiel 38:8 Literally “ruins continually/permanently”
16. Ezekiel 38:8 Literally “with confidence/assurance/trust”
17. Ezekiel 38:9 Literally “to cover”
18. Ezekiel 38:10 Literally “and it will be”
19. Ezekiel 38:10 Or “thoughts”
20. Ezekiel 38:10 Or “in”
21. Ezekiel 38:11 Or “go”
22. Ezekiel 38:11 Literally “with confidence”
23. Ezekiel 38:11 Or “walls”
24. Ezekiel 38:11 Hebrew “crossbar”
25. Ezekiel 38:11 Literally “and doors there are not for them”
26. Ezekiel 38:12 Or “for”
27. Ezekiel 38:12 Or “war-booty”; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
28. Ezekiel 38:12 Or “seize”; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
29. Ezekiel 38:12 Literally “to bring back your hand against”; NJPS, “to turn your hand against”
30. Ezekiel 38:13 Or “all of its violent leaders”
31. Ezekiel 38:13 Or “for”
32. Ezekiel 38:13 Or “war-booty” this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
33. Ezekiel 38:13 Or “seize”; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
34. Ezekiel 38:13 Hebrew “amount”
35. Ezekiel 38:14 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
36. Ezekiel 38:14 LXX reads, “stir up/rouse yourself”
37. Ezekiel 38:14 Literally “with confidence/trust”
38. Ezekiel 38:15 Literally “riders of horsemen”
39. Ezekiel 38:16 Literally “to cover”
40. Ezekiel 38:16 Or “occur”
41. Ezekiel 38:18 Literally “declaration of”
42. Ezekiel 38:19 Or “I asserted”
43. Ezekiel 38:19 Literally “if not”
44. Ezekiel 38:20 Hebrew “bird”
45. Ezekiel 38:20 Or “sky”
46. Ezekiel 38:20 Hebrew “animal”
47. Ezekiel 38:20 Or “every human being”
48. Ezekiel 38:20 Literally “from the face of me”
49. Ezekiel 38:20 Or “to”
50. Ezekiel 38:21 Or “summon against him” (cf. NJPS)
51. Ezekiel 38:21 Literally “declaration of”
52. Ezekiel 38:22 Or “with respect to him”
53. Ezekiel 38:22 Literally “rain flooding/pouring down”