15 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,n 16 “And you, son of man,o take for yourself ⌊a piece of wood⌋,p and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the ⌊Israelites⌋q his associates,’ and take another piece of wood, and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the piece of wood ofr Ephraim and all of the house of Israel his associates.’ 17 And join them one to the other with respect to you as one piece of wood, so that they may become one in your hand. 18 ⌊When⌋s ⌊your people⌋t say to you, ⌊saying⌋,u ‘Will you not inform us as to what these actions mean for you?’ 19 Then speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the piece of wood for Joseph that is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel its associates, and I will put them on it, the piece of wood of Judah, and I will make them into one piece of wood, so that they be one in my hand.’ ” 20 And the pieces of wood on which you wrote will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 And speak to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am taking the ⌊Israelites⌋v from among ⌊the nations to which they went⌋,w and I will gather them from ⌊everywhere⌋,x and I will bring them to their own soil. 22 And I will make them into one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and ⌊they will all have one king as their king⌋,y and theyz will not again be two nations and will not again divide into two kingdoms again. 23 And they will not defile themselves again with their idols and with vile idols and with all of their transgressions, and I will save them from all of their apostasy ⌊by which they sinned⌋,a and I will cleanse them and they will be for me as a people and I, I will be for them as God.

24 “ ‘ “And my servant David will be king over them, and one shepherd will be for all of them, and in my regulations they will go, and my statutes they will observe, and they will do them. 25 And they will dwell on the land that I gave to my servant, to Jacob, ⌊in which your ancestors dwelled⌋,b and they will dwell on it, they and their children and the children of their children ⌊forever⌋,c and my servant David will be a leader for them ⌊forever⌋.d 26 And I will make with them a covenant of peace; ⌊an everlasting covenant⌋e it will be with them. And I will establish them, and I will cause them to increase, and I will put my sanctuary in the midst of them ⌊forever⌋.f 27 And my tabernacle will be with them, and I will be for them as God, and they will be to me as a nation. 28 And the nations will know that I, Yahweh, am consecrating Israel when my sanctuary is in the midst of them ⌊forever⌋.” ’ ”g

God’s Message to Gog

38 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Son of man,b set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the headc 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 headd leader of Meshach and Tubal, 4 and I will turn you around, and I will placee hooks in your cheeks, and I will bring you out and all of your horses and horsemen ⌊fully armed⌋,f all of them, a great crowd, holding a shield,g and small shield, and holdingh 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⌋,i you and all of your assembly,j the assemblingk around you, and you must bel for them as a guard. 8 After many days you will be mustered; ⌊in the last years⌋m you will come to a restored land from the sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as ⌊permanent ruins⌋n but from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell ⌊in safety⌋,o all of them. 9 And you will advance like a storm; you will come, and you will be like a cloud ⌊covering⌋p the land, and all of your troops and many nations along with you.”

10 “ ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “⌊And then⌋q on that day, thingsr will come up ons 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 comet to the people being at rest ⌊in safety⌋,u all of them dwelling without a wallv and crossbarsw and ⌊without doors⌋,x 12 toy loot loot,z and to plundera plunder, ⌊to assail⌋b 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,c they will ask you, ‘Tod loot loote are you coming? To plunderf plunder have you summoned your assembly, to take away silver and gold, to take livestock and goods, to loot great amountsg of loot?” ’

14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man,h and you must say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will you not realizei on that day when my people Israel are dwelling ⌊in safety⌋,j 15 and so you will come from your place, from the remote areas of the north, you and many people with you, ⌊horsemen⌋k all of them, a great crowd and a vast army, 16 and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud ⌊covering⌋l the land; it will bem 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⌋n the Lord Yahweh, ‘my rage will come up in my anger. 19 And in my passion, in the fire of my wrath, I spokeo that ⌊certainly⌋p on that day a great earthquake will be on the land of Israel. 20 And the fish of the sea and the birdsq of the heavenr and the animalss of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humanst who are on the surface of the earth will shake ⌊at my presence⌋;u and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall onv the earth will fall. 21 And I will call against himw in all of my mountains a sword,’ ⌊declares⌋x the Lord Yahweh, ‘And the sword of each person will be against his brother. 22 And I will execute justice withy him with a plague and with blood and ⌊torrents of rain⌋,z 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.’ ”

God’s Destruction of Gog and His Hordes

39 “And you, son of man,a prophesy against Gog, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against you Gog, the headb leader of Meshech and Tubal, 2 and I will turn you around, and I will drag you along, and I will bring you up from the remote areas of the north, and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel, 3 and I will strike your bow from ⌊your left hand⌋,c and your arrows from ⌊your right hand⌋d I will cause to fall. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all of your troops, and the peoples who are with you, to birdse of prey, birds of every wing,f and animals of the field I will give you as food. 5 On the surface of the field you will fall, for ⌊I myself⌋g have spoken,” ⌊declares⌋h the Lord Yahweh. 6 “And I will send fire against Magog and among the people inhabiting the coastlands ⌊in safety⌋,i and they will know that I am Yahweh. 7 And ⌊my holy name⌋j I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let the name of my holiness be profaned anymore, and the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the holy one in Israel. 8 Look! it is coming, and it will happen,” ⌊declares⌋k the Lord Yahweh. “It is the day ⌊about which I have spoken⌋.l

9 “‘“And the inhabitants of the townsm of Israel will go out, and they will set ablaze, and they will kindle a fire with a weaponn and a small shield and a shield,o with a bow and with arrows, and with ⌊hand clubs⌋p and with spears,q and so they will light a fire with them, ⌊a fire lasting seven years⌋.r 10 And they will not carry trees from the field, and they will not chop wood from the forests, for with the weaponss they will light a fire; and they will plunder those plundering them, and they will plunder those plundering them,” ’ ⌊declares⌋t the Lord Yahweh.