Ezekiel 38:1–16

Gog as the Instrument of God

38The Lord spoke to me. ^2*“Mortal man,” he said, “denounce Gog, chief ruler of the nations of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Denounce him, ³and tell him that I, the Sovereign Lord, am his enemy. ⁴I will turn him round, put hooks in his jaws, and drag him and all his troops away. His army, with its horses and uniformed riders, is enormous, and every soldier carries a shield and is armed with a sword. ⁵Men from Persia, Ethiopia,^j and Libya are with him, and all have shields and helmets. ⁶All the fighting men of the lands of Gomer and Beth Togarmah in the north are with him, and so are men from many other nations. ⁷Tell him to get ready and have all his troops ready at his command. ⁸After many years I will order him to invade a country where the people were brought back together from many nations and have lived without fear of war. He will invade the mountains of Israel, which were desolate and deserted so long, but where all the people now live in safety. ⁹He and his army and the many nations with him will attack like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.”

¹⁰This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Gog: “When that time comes, you will start thinking up an evil plan. ¹¹You will decide to invade a helpless country where the people live in peace and security in unwalled towns that have no defences. ¹²You will plunder and loot the people who live in cities that were once in ruins. They have been gathered from the nations, and now they have livestock and property and live at the crossroads of the world. ¹³The people of Sheba and Dedan and the merchants from the towns of Spain will ask you, ‘Have you assembled your army and attacked in order to loot and plunder? Do you intend to get silver and gold, livestock and property, and to march off with all those spoils?’ ”

¹⁴So the Sovereign Lord sent me to tell Gog what he was saying to him: “Now while my people Israel live in security, you will set out^{k 15}from your place in the far north, leading a large, powerful army of soldiers from many nations, all of them on horseback. ¹⁶You will attack my people Israel like a storm moving across the land. When the time comes, I will send you to invade my land in order to show the nations who I am, to show my holiness by what I do through you.