Ezekiel 38
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 585 BC – 573 BC · Exile in Babylon · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
23 verses · 696 words · ~3 min read · ~5 min listen
A Prophecy against Gog
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him 3and declare that this is what the Lord God says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords. 5Persia, Cush, and Put will accompany them, all with shields and helmets, 6as well as Gomer with all its troops, and Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.
7Get ready; prepare yourself, you and all your company gathered around you; you will be their guard. 8After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely. 9You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
10This is what the Lord God says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. 11You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates— 12in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’
13Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will ask, ‘Have you come to capture the plunder? Have you assembled your hordes to carry away loot, to make off with silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’
14Therefore prophesy, son of man, and tell Gog that this is what the Lord God says: On that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not take notice of this? 15And you will come from your place out of the far north—you and many peoples with you, all riding horses—a mighty horde, a huge army. 16You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.
17This is what the Lord God says: Are you the one of whom I have spoken in former days through My servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those times prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? 18Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, My wrath will flare up.
19In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.
21And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord God, and every manʼs sword will be against his brother. 22I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. 23I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Footnotes (5)
- a v2 Or of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal
- b v3 Or Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal
- c v5 That is, the upper Nile region
- d v13 Or young lions
- e v14 LXX will you not rouse yourself?
Study notes on this chapter · 1
Gog of Magog
Ezekiel 38–39 describes Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, from the land of Magog, who leads a great coalition against a restored Israel 'in the latter years' and is destroyed by God. Revelation 20 speaks of 'Gog and Magog' gathered for a last battle after the thousand years. Who Gog is, and when, has been disputed for millennia.
When: Ezekiel, c. 590–570 BC; proposed fulfillments range from the ancient world to the end of time.
Ways people read this (4)
- A future invasion of Israel by a northern coalition before or at the end of the age, sometimes identified with modern powers (a common popular reading, which has produced many conflicting identifications).
- A symbolic picture of the final assault of evil on the people of God, taken up in Revelation 20 (amillennial and idealist readings).
- A prophecy of the ancient threats to postexilic Israel, such as the Scythians or the Seleucids.
- An apocalyptic image that cannot be tied to one historical event.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.