Ezekiel 39

Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

1God said, "Son of man, speak my words against Gog." ("Son of man" is what God calls Ezekiel, a prophet, someone who told people what God said.) Say this: "The Lord God says: Gog, I am against you. You are the chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal."

2And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

2"I will turn you around and lead you along. I will bring you from far up north. I will send you against the mountains of Israel."

NoteThe KJV says "leave but the sixth part of thee." The old Hebrew word is hard to read here. Most modern Bibles say God drives Gog along, not that only a sixth is left.

3And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

3"I will knock the bow out of your left hand. I will knock the arrows out of your right hand."

4Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

4"You will fall on the mountains of Israel. So will all your soldiers and the nations with you. I will give you to hungry birds and wild animals to eat."

5Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

5"You will fall out in the open fields. I have said it," says the Lord God.

6And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

6"I will send fire on Magog and on people living safely by the sea. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

NoteThe KJV says people who "dwell carelessly." That does not mean careless. In 1611 it meant living without worry, feeling safe. The "isles" are lands along the coast.

7So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

7"I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I will not let anyone treat my holy name as if it were nothing. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel."

8Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

8"Listen. It is coming, and it will surely happen," says the Lord God. "This is the day I told you about."

9And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:

9People who live in the towns of Israel will come out. They will build fires and burn the enemy's weapons. They will burn the shields, the bows, the arrows, the clubs, and the spears. For seven years they will burn them for fuel.

Note"Bucklers" are small shields. "Handstaves" are wooden clubs used in battle.

10So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD.

10They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut trees in the woods. They will burn the weapons instead. They will take goods from the ones who took from them. They will rob the ones who robbed them, says the Lord God.

11And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.

11"On that day I will give Gog a burying place in Israel. It is the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the road for people passing through. Gog and his whole army will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog."

Note"Passengers" in the KJV means travelers, people walking through on a road.

12And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

12The people of Israel will bury them for seven months. This will make the land clean again.

13Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.

13All the people of the land will help bury them. People will honor them for it on the day I show my glory, says the Lord God.

14And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.

14Some men will be given this job all the time. They will walk through the land and bury the bodies still lying on the ground. That will make the land clean. After the seven months are over, they will search again.

15And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog.

15As these men walk through the land, they will watch for bones. When one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it. The marker stays until the buriers carry the bone to the Valley of Hamon Gog.

16And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

16A city there will be named Hamonah. This is how they will make the land clean.

17And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

17God said, "Son of man, the Lord God says this. Call out to every kind of bird and every wild animal. Tell them: Come together from every side. Come to the feast I am making for you. It is a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat meat and drink blood."

18Ye 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 bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

18"You will eat the bodies of strong soldiers. You will drink the blood of the rulers of the earth. They will be like rams, lambs, goats, and bulls to you. They will be like the fat animals of Bashan."

19And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

19"At the feast I am making for you, you will eat fat until you are full. You will drink blood until you have had far more than enough."

20Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

20"At my table you will eat your fill. There will be horses and riders, strong soldiers and fighting men of every kind," says the Lord God.

21And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

21"I will show my glory among the nations. All of them will see how I have judged. They will see the hand I laid on them."

22So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.

22From that day on, the people of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.

23And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.

23The nations will learn why Israel was taken away to another land. It was because of the wrong they did. They were not true to me. So I turned my face away from them. I handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell in battle.

24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

24I treated them the way their wrong deeds deserved. I turned my face away from them.

25Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

25So the Lord God says this: "Now I will bring Jacob's people back home. I will show kindness to all the people of Israel. I will care fiercely about my holy name."

26After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.

26"They will forget their shame and all the times they were not true to me. They will live safely in their own land, and no one will scare them."

27When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;

27"I will bring them back from other peoples. I will gather them out of their enemies' lands. Through them I will show that I am holy, while many nations watch."

28Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there.

28"Then they will know that I am the LORD their God. I let them be taken away to other nations. But I will bring them back to their own land. I will not leave any of them behind."

29Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

29"I will never turn my face away from them again. I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel," says the Lord God.