The Living Bible (270 page)
Authors: Inc. Tyndale House Publishers
Tags: #BIBLES / Other Translations / Text
Here is another message to me from the Lord:
2-3
“Son of dust, face northward
*
toward the land of Magog and prophesy against Gog
*
king of Meshech and Tubal. Tell him that the Lord God says: ‘I am against you, Gog.
4
I will put hooks into your jaws and pull you to your doom. I will mobilize your troops and armored cavalry and make you a mighty host, all fully armed.
5
Peras, Cush, Put shall join you too with all their weaponry,
6
and so shall Gomer and all his hordes and the armies of Togarmah from the distant north, as well as many others.
7
Be prepared! Stay mobilized. You are their leader, Gog!
8
“‘A long time from now you will be called to action. In distant years you will swoop down onto the land of Israel that will be lying in peace after the return of its people from many lands.
9
You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down upon them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud.
10
For at that time an evil thought will have come to your mind.
11
You will have said, “Israel is an unprotected land of unwalled villages! I will march against her and destroy these people living in such confidence!
12
I will go to those once-desolate cities that are now filled with people again—those who have returned from all the nations—and I will capture vast amounts of loot and many slaves. For the people are rich with cattle now, and the whole earth revolves around them!”’
13
“But Sheba and Dedan
*
and the merchant princes of Tarshish with whom she trades
*
will ask, ‘Who are you to rob them of silver and gold and drive away their cattle and seize their goods and make them poor?’”
14
The Lord God says to Gog: “When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will rouse yourself.
15-16
You will come from all over the north with your vast host of cavalry and cover the land like a cloud. This will happen in the distant future—in the latter years of history.
*
I will bring you against my land, and my holiness will be vindicated in your terrible destruction before their eyes, so that all the nations will know that I am God.”
17
The Lord God says: “You are the one I spoke of long ago through the prophets of Israel, saying that after many years had passed, I would bring you against my people.
18
But when you come to destroy the land of Israel, my fury will rise!
19
For in my jealousy and blazing wrath, I promise a mighty shaking in the land of Israel on that day.
20
All living things shall quake in terror at my presence; mountains shall be thrown down; cliffs shall tumble; walls shall crumble to the earth.
21
I will summon every kind of terror against you,” says the Lord God, “and you will fight against yourselves in mortal combat!
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I will fight you with sword, disease, torrential floods, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone!
23
Thus will I show my greatness and bring honor upon my name, and all the nations of the world will hear what I have done and know that I am God!
“Son of dust, prophesy this also against Gog. Tell him:
“‘I stand against you, Gog, leader of Meshech and Tubal.
2
I will turn you and drive you toward the mountains of Israel, bringing you from the distant north. And I will destroy 85 percent of your army
*
in the mountains.
3
I will knock your weapons from your hands and leave you helpless.
4
You and all your vast armies will die upon the mountains. I will give you to the vultures and wild animals to devour you.
5
You will never reach the cities—you will fall upon the open fields; for I have spoken, the Lord God says.
6
And I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts, and they shall know I am the Lord.
7
“‘Thus I will make known my holy name among my people Israel; I will not let it be mocked at anymore. And the nations, too, shall know I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
8
That day of judgment will come; everything will happen just as I have declared it.
9
“‘The people of the cities of Israel will go out and pick up your shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, javelins and spears, to use for fuel—enough to last them seven years.
10
For seven years they will need nothing else for their fires. They won’t cut wood from the fields or forests, for these weapons will give them all they need. They will use the possessions of those who abused them.
11
“‘And I will make a vast graveyard for Gog and his armies in the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Dead Sea. It will block the path of the travelers. There Gog and all his armies will be buried. And they will change the name of the place to “The Valley of Gog’s Army.”
12
It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury the bodies.
13
Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be a glorious victory for Israel on that day when I demonstrate my glory, says the Lord.
14
At the end of the seven months, they will appoint men to search the land systematically for any skeletons left and bury them, so that the land will be cleansed.
15-16
Whenever anyone sees some bones, he will put up a marker beside them so that the buriers will see them and take them to the Valley of Gog’s Army to bury them. A city named “Multitude” is there! And so the land will finally be cleansed.’
17
“And now, son of dust, call all the birds and animals and say to them: ‘Gather together for a mighty sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel. Come, eat the flesh and drink the blood!
18
Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of princes—they are the rams, the lambs, the goats, and the fat young bulls of Bashan for my feast!
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Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted, drink blood until you are drunk; this is the sacrificial feast I have prepared for you.
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Feast at my banquet table—feast on horses, riders, and valiant warriors, says the Lord God.’
21
“Thus I will demonstrate my glory among the nations; all shall see the punishment of Gog and know that I have done it.
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And from that time onward the people of Israel will know I am the Lord their God.
23
And the nations will know why Israel was sent away to exile—it was punishment for sin, for they acted in treachery against their God. Therefore, I turned my face away from them and let their enemies destroy them.
24
I turned my face away and punished them in proportion to the vileness of their sins.
25
“But now,” the Lord God says, “I will end the captivity of my people and have mercy upon them and restore their fortunes, for I am concerned about my reputation!
26
Their time of treachery and shame will all be in the past; they will be home again, in peace and safety in their own land, with no one bothering them or making them afraid.
27
I will bring them home from the lands of their enemies—and my glory shall be evident to all the nations when I do it. Through them I will vindicate my holiness before the nations.
28
Then my people will know I am the Lord their God—responsible for sending them away to exile, and responsible for bringing them home. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations.
29
And I will never hide my face from them again, for I will pour out my Spirit upon them,” says the Lord God.
Early in April of the twenty-fifth year of our exile—the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured—the hand of the Lord was upon me,
2
and in a vision he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain where I saw what appeared to be a city opposite me.
3
Going nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze, standing beside the Temple gate,
*
holding in his hand a measuring tape and a measuring stick.
4
He said to me: “Son of dust, watch and listen and take to heart everything I show you, for you have been brought here so I can show you many things; and then you are to return to the people of Israel to tell them all you have seen.”
5
The man began to measure the wall around the outside of the Temple area with his measuring stick, which was 10
1
/
2
feet long. He told me, “This wall is 10
1
/
2
feet high and 10
1
/
2
feet wide.”
6
Then he took me over to the passageway that goes through the eastern wall. We climbed the seven steps into the entrance, and he measured the entry hall of the passage; it was 10
1
/
2
feet wide.
7-12
Walking on through the passageway I saw that there were three guardrooms on each side; each of these rooms was 10
1
/
2
feet square, with a distance of 8
3
/
4
feet along the wall between them. In front of these rooms was a low barrier 18 inches high and 18 inches wide.
*
Beyond the guardrooms was a 10
1
/
2
-foot doorway opening into a 14-foot hall with 3
1
/
2
-foot columns. Beyond this hall, at the inner end of the passageway, was a vestibule 22
3
/
4
feet wide and 17
1
/
2
feet long.
13
Then he measured the entire outside width of the passageway, measuring across the roof from the outside doors of the guardrooms; this distance was 43
3
/
4
feet.
14
Then he estimated the pillars on each side of the porch to be about 100 feet high.
15
The full length of the entrance passage was 87
1
/
2
feet from one end to the other.
16
There were windows that narrowed inward through the walls along both sides of the passageway and along the guardroom walls. The windows were also in the exit and in the entrance halls. The pillars were decorated with palm tree decorations.
17
And so we passed through the passageway to the court inside. A stone pavement ran around the inside of the walls, and thirty rooms were built against the walls, opening onto this pavement.
18
This was called “the lower pavement.” It extended out from the walls into the court the same distance as the passageway did.
19
Then he measured across to the wall on the other side of this court (which was called “the outer court” of the Temple)
*
and found that the distance was 175 feet.
20
As I followed, he left the eastern passageway and went over to the passage through the northern wall and measured it.
21
Here, too, there were three guardrooms on each side, and all the measurements were the same as for the east passageway—87
1
/
2
feet long and 43
3
/
4
feet from side to side across the top of the guardrooms.
22
There were windows, an entry hall, and the palm tree decorations just the same as on the east side. And there were seven steps leading up to the doorway to the entry hall inside.
23
Here at the north entry, just as at the east, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to an inner wall and a passageway through it to an inner court. The distance between the two passageways was 175 feet.
24
Then he took me around to the south gate and measured the various sections of its passageway and found they were just the same as in the others.
25
It had windows along the walls as the others did, and an entry hall. And like the others, it was 87
1
/
2
feet long and 43
3
/
4
feet wide.
26
It, too, had a stairway of seven steps leading up to it, and there were palm tree decorations along the walls.
27
And here again, if one walked through the passageway into the court and straight across it, he came to the inner wall and a passageway through it to the inner court. And the distance between the passageways was 175 feet.
28
Then he took me over to the inner wall and its south passageway. He measured this passageway and found that it had the same measurements as the passageways of the outer wall.
*
29-30
Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance and exit hall were identical to all the others, and so were the windows along its walls and entry. And, like the others, it was 87
1
/
2
feet long by 43
3
/
4
feet wide.
*
31
The only difference was that it had eight steps leading up to it instead of seven. It had palm tree decorations on the pillars, just as the others.
32
Then he took me along the court to the eastern entrance of the inner wall, and measured it. It, too, had the same measurements as the others.
33
Its guardrooms, pillars, and entrance hall were the same size as those of the other passageways, and there were windows along the walls and in the entry hall; and it was 87
1
/
2
feet long by 43
3
/
4
feet wide.
34
Its entry hall faced the outer court, and there were palm tree decorations on its columns, but there were eight steps instead of seven going up to the entrance.
35
Then he took me around to the north gate of the inner wall, and the measurements there were just like the others:
36
The guardrooms, pillars, and entry hall of this passageway were the same as the others, with a length of 87
1
/
2
feet and a width of 43
3
/
4
feet.
37
Its entry hall faced toward the outer court; it had palm tree decorations on the walls of each side of the passageway, and there were eight steps leading up to the entrance.
38
But a door led from its entry hall into a side room where the flesh of the sacrifices was washed before being taken to the altar;
39
on each side of the entry hall of the passageway there were two tables where the animals for sacrifice were slaughtered for the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings to be presented in the Temple.
40
Outside the entry hall, on each side of the stairs going up to the north entrance, there were two more tables.
41
So, in all there were eight tables, four inside and four outside, where the sacrifices were cut up and prepared.
42
There were also four stone tables where the butchering knives and other implements were laid. These tables were about 2
5
/
8
feet square and 1
3
/
4
feet high.
43
There were hooks, 3 or 4 inches long, fastened along the walls of the entry hall, and on the tables the flesh of the offering was to be laid.
44
In the inner court there were two one-room buildings, one beside the northern entrance, facing south, and one beside the southern entrance, facing north.
45
And he said to me: “The building beside the inner northern gate is for the priests who supervise the maintenance.
46
The building beside the inner southern entrance is for the priests in charge of the altar—the descendants of Zadok—for they alone of all the Levites may come near to the Lord to minister to him.”
47
Then he measured the inner court in front of the Temple
*
and found it to be 175 feet square, and there was an altar in the court, standing in front of the Temple.
48-49
Then he brought me to the entrance hall of the Temple. Ten steps led up to it from the inner court. Its walls extended up on either side to form two pillars, each of them 8
3
/
4
feet thick. The entrance was 24
1
/
2
feet wide with 5
1
/
4
-foot walls. Thus the entry hall was 35 feet wide and 19
1
/
4
feet long.