Prophecy against Gog--Invaders Destroyed

1“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince (ruler) of Meshech and Tubal; 2and I will turn you around and lead you along, and bring you up from the remotest parts of the north, and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4You will fall [dead] on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the nations who are with you. I will give you to every kind of predatory bird and animal of the field as food. 5You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD. 6“I will also send fire on Magog and on those who live securely in the coastlands; and they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD.

7“I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore; and the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 8Behold, it is coming and it will be done,” says the Lord GOD. “That is the day of which I have spoken.

9And [when you, Gog, no longer exist] those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both the [large] shields and the [a]bucklers (small shields), the bows and the arrows, the war clubs and the spears; and for seven years they will burn them. 10They will not take any wood from the field or cut down and gather [any] firewood from the forests, because they will make their fires using the weapons. And they will take the spoil from those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” says the Lord GOD.

11“And on that day I will give Gog a place for burial there in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea, and it will block the way of those who would pass through. So they will [b]bury Gog there with all his hordes, and they will call it the Valley of Hamon-gog (the multitude of Gog). 12For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I appear in My glory and brilliance,” says the Lord GOD. 14“They will elect men who will constantly go through the land, [men commissioned] to bury those who were passing through, those bodies that lie unburied on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will do a search. 15As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it, until the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. In this manner they shall cleanse the land.”’

17“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Say to every kind of bird and to every animal of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice that I am slaughtering for you, as a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan [east of the Jordan]. 19So you will eat fat until you are filled and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast which I have prepared for you. 20You will eat your fill at My table with horses and riders, with mighty men, and with all the men of war,” says the Lord GOD.

21“And I will bring [and manifest] My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment and justice [in the punishment] which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. 22So the house of Israel will know [with absolute confidence] that I am the LORD their God from that day forward. 23And the nations will know [without any doubt] that the house of Israel went into exile for their great sin, because they acted treacherously against Me; and I hid My face (favor, blessing) from them. So I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell [into captivity or were killed] by [the power of] the sword. 24I dealt with them in accordance with their uncleanness and their transgressions, and I hid My face from them.”’”

Israel Restored

25Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob (Israel) and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine]. 26They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery (unfaithfulness) which they perpetuated against Me, when they live securely in their own land and there is no one who makes them afraid. 27When I bring them back from the nations and gather them out of their enemies’ lands, then I shall show Myself holy [and My justice and holiness will be vindicated] through them in the sight of many nations. 28Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the LORD their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them to their own land. I will leave none of them there [among the nations] any longer. 29I will not hide My face from them any longer, because I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” says the Lord GOD.

[a] 9 See note Jer 46:3.
[b] 11 The number of dead bodies left after the great catastrophe which God will send on Gog and his hordes will be innumerable. Their bodies will even interfere with traffic. The dead will not be killed in battle. God will destroy them by a great natural disaster (38:18-23). And not just some, but all of Gog’s hordes will die then (vv 4, 11); before they have had a chance to use their weapons, God will strike them from their hands (v 3).