- Ezekiel
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39
1 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog and announce that this is what the Lord God says: Watch out, because I'm condemning you Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will send you in a different direction, drag you along, bring you from the distant places of the north, and send you to attack the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand and make you drop the arrows from your right hand.
4 You will be killed on the mountains of Israel, you and your whole army and armies of your allies. I will provide you as food to all kinds of flesh-eating birds and animals. 5 You will fall and die out in the open, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God.
6 I will set Magog on fire, as well as the coastlands where people think it's safe to live, and then they will acknowledge that I am the Lord. 7 In this way I will make my reputation for holiness known among my people Israel and won't allow it to be ruined anymore. Then the nations will acknowledge that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 8 Yes, it's coming! It will definitely happen, declares the Lord God. This is the day that I have spoken about.
9 Then those living in the towns of Israel will go out to light fires and burn the weapons—the large and small shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. They will use the weapons to make fires for seven years. 10 They won't need to go and gather firewood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, because they'll use the weapons to make fires. They will loot and plunder those who looted and plundered them, declares the Lord God.
11 At that time I will give Gog a place to be buried in Israel, the Travelers' Valley, east of the Sea. People won't be able to travel through because all his army will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Gog's Army. 12 It will take the people of Israel seven months to bury them in order to make the country clean. 13 Everyone in the country will be involved in burying them, and this will give them a good reputation when I reveal my glory, declares the Lord God.
14 Men will be chosen to go repeatedly through the country to make it clean it by burying the bodies of the invaders that are still left lying the ground. They will start doing this at the end of the seven months. 15 As they search the country, if they find a human bone they will place a marker next to it so that those in charge of burials can have it buried in the Valley of Gog's Army. 16 Even the town there will be named Hamonah.* “Hamonah,” referring to the “army.” In this way they will make the country clean.
17 Son of man, this is what the Lord God says: Call out to every kind of flesh-eating bird and wild animal: Come from everywhere around and gather for the sacrifice I'm going to prepare for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel where you'll have flesh to eat and blood to drink. 18 You will eat the flesh of the powerful and drink the blood of the world's leaders just as if they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all the fattened animals that come from Bashan. 19 You will eat fat until you are totally full and drink blood until you are drunk at the sacrifice I'm going to prepare. 20 You will eat at my table until you're full, consuming horses and riders, powerful men and all kinds of warriors, declares the Lord God.
21 I will reveal my glory to the other nations, and all of them will see the punishment I hand out to them. 22 From that time on the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 The nations will realize that the people of Israel were taken prisoner because of their sins, because they were unfaithful to me. So I gave up on them and handed them over to their enemies, so that they were all† “All”: an example of hyperbole, since clearly they were not all killed. killed by the sword. 24 I dealt with them because of their uncleanness and sins, and I gave up on them.
25 So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will bring back the descendants of Jacob from exile and I will show mercy to all the people of Israel, and I will demonstrate my reputation for holiness. 26 They will forget their shameful actions and all the ways they were unfaithful to me once they live in safety in their country, with no one to threaten them. 27 When I bring them home from the nations, gathering them from the countries of their enemies, I will reveal my holiness among as many nations watch. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, when I bring them home to their own country again, not leaving any of them behind. 29 I won't give up on them anymore, for I will fill the people of Israel with my Spirit, declares the Lord God.”

- Ezekiel
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*39:16 “Hamonah,” referring to the “army.”

†39:23 “All”: an example of hyperbole, since clearly they were not all killed.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher