Part 989

37:21. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from the midst of the nations whither they are gone: and I will gather them on every side, and will bring them to their own land.

37:22. And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all: and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms.

37:23. Nor shall they be defiled any more with their idols, nor with their abominations, nor with all their iniquities: and I will save them out of all the places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

37:24. And my servant David shall be king over them, and they shall have one shepherd: they shall walk in my judgments, and shall keep my commandments, and shall do them.

37:25. And they shall dwell in the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, wherein your fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell in it, they and their children, and their children’s children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.

37:26. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will establish them, and will multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever.

37:27. And my tabernacle shall be with them: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

37:28. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.

Ezechiel Chapter 38

Gog shall persecute the church in the latter days. He shall be overthrown.

38:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

38:2. Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal: and prophesy of him,

Gog.... This name, which signifies hidden or covered, is taken in this place, either for the persecutors of the church of God in general, or some arch-persecutor in particular: such as Antichrist shall be in the latter days. See Apoc. 20.8. And what is said of the punishment of Gog, is verified by the unhappy ends of persecutors.—Ibid. Magog.... Scythia or Tartary, from whence the Turks, and other enemies of the church of Christ, originally sprung.

38:3. And say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal.

38:4. And I will turn thee about, and I will put a bit in thy jaws: and I will bring thee forth, and all thy army, horses and horsemen all clothed with coats of mail, a great multitude, armed with spears and shields and swords.

38:5. The Persians, Ethiopians, and Libyans with them, all with shields and helmets.

38:6. Gomer, and all his bands, the house of Thogorma, the northern parts and all his strength, and many peoples with thee.

38:7. Prepare and make thyself ready, and all thy multitude that is assembled about thee, and be thou commander over them.

38:8. After many days thou shalt be visited: at the end of years thou shalt come to the land that is returned from the sword, and is gathered out of many nations, to the mountains of Israel which have been continually waste: but it hath been brought forth out of the nations, and they shall all of them dwell securely in it.

38:9. And thou shalt go up and come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands and many people with thee.

38:10. Thus saith the Lord God: In that day projects shall enter into thy heart, and thou shalt conceive a mischievous design.

38:11. And thou shalt say: I will go up to the land which is without a wall, I will come to them that are at rest, and dwell securely: all these dwell without a wall, they have no bars nor gates:

38:12. To take spoils, and lay hold on the prey, to lay thy hand upon them that had been wasted, and afterwards restored, and upon the people that is gathered together out of the nations, which hath begun to possess and to dwell in the midst of the earth.

38:13. Saba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tharsis, and all the lions thereof shall say to thee: Art thou come to take spoils? behold, thou hast gathered thy multitude to take a prey, to take silver, and gold, and to carry away goods and substance, and to take rich spoils.

38:14. Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: Thus saith the Lord God: Shalt thou not know, in that day, when my people of Israel shall dwell securely?

38:15. And thou shalt come out of thy place from the northern parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army.

38:16. And thou shalt come upon my people of Israel like a cloud, to cover the earth. Thou shalt be in the latter days, and I will bring thee upon my land: that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

38:17. Thus saith the Lord God: Thou then art he, of whom I have spoken in the days of old, by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times that I would bring thee upon them.