1. The word of the Lord came to me. He said,
2. “Son of man, look toward Gog in the land of Magog. He is the most important leader of the nations of Meshech and Tubal. Speak for me against Gog.
3. Tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Gog, you are the most important leader of the nations of Meshech and Tubal, but I am against you.
4. I will capture you and bring you back. I will bring back all the men in your army, all the horses, and horse soldiers. I will put hooks in your mouths, and I will bring all of you back. All the soldiers will be wearing their uniforms with all their shields and swords.
5. Soldiers from Persia, Ethiopia, and Put will be with them. They will all be wearing their shields and helmets.
6. There will also be Gomer with all its groups of soldiers, and there will be the nation of Togarmah from the far north with all its groups of soldiers. There will be many people in that parade of prisoners.
7. “‘Be prepared. Yes, prepare yourself and the armies that have joined with you. You must watch and be ready.
8. After a long time you will be called for duty. In the later years you will come into the land that has been healed from war. The people in that land were gathered from many nations and brought back to the mountains of Israel. In the past, the mountains of Israel had been destroyed again and again. But these people will have come back from those other nations. They all will have lived in safety.
9. But you will come to attack them. You will come like a storm. You will come like a thundercloud covering the land. You and all your groups of soldiers from many nations will come to attack them.’”
10. This is what the Lord GOD says: “At that time an idea will come into your mind. You will begin to make an evil plan.
11. You will say, ‘I will go attack the country that has towns without walls. The people there live in peace and think they are safe. There are no walls around the cities to protect them. They don’t have any locks on their gates—they don’t even have gates!
12. I will defeat them and take all their valuable things away from them. I will fight against the places that were destroyed but now have people living in them. I will fight against the people who were gathered from the nations. Now they have cattle and property. They live at the crossroads of the world.’
13. “Sheba, Dedan, and merchants of Tarshish and all the cities they trade with will ask you, ‘Did you come to capture valuable things? Did you bring your groups of soldiers together to grab the good things and to carry away silver, gold, cattle, and property? Did you come to take all those valuable things?’
14. “Son of man, speak to Gog for me. Tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will come to attack my people while they are living in peace and safety.
15. You will come from your place out of the far north, and you will bring many people with you. All of them will ride on horses. You will be a large and a powerful army.
16. You will come to fight against my people Israel. You will be like a thundercloud covering the land. When that time comes, I will bring you to fight against my land. Then, Gog, the nations will learn how powerful I am! They will learn to respect me and know that I am holy. They will see what I will do to you!’”