The Lord Will Have Great Victory Over the Nations
1A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 2“Son of man, turn your attention to Gog. He is from the land of Magog. He is the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. Prophesy against him. 3Tell him, ‘The Lord and King says, “Gog, I am against you. You are the chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. 4But I will turn you around. I will put hooks in your jaws. I will bring you out of your land along with your whole army. Your horses will come with you. Your horsemen will be completely armed. Your huge army will carry large and small shields. All of them will be ready to use their swords. 5The men of Persia, Cush and Put will march out with them. All of them will have shields and helmets. 6Gomer and all its troops will be there too. Beth Togarmah from the far north will also come with all its troops. Many nations will help you.
7“ ‘ “Get ready. Be prepared. Take command of the huge armies gathered around you. 8After many years you will be called together to fight. Later, you will march into a land that has not had war for a while. Its people were gathered together from many nations. They came to the mountains of Israel. No one had lived in those mountains for a long time. So the people had been brought back from other nations. Now all the people live in safety. 9You, all your troops and the many nations with you will march up to attack them. All of you will advance like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering their land.”
10“ ‘The Lord and King says, “At that time some ideas will come to you. You will make evil plans. 11You will say, ‘I will march out against a land whose villages don’t have walls around them. I’ll attack those peaceful people. I’ll do this when they aren’t expecting it. None of their villages has walls or gates with metal bars on them. 12I will rob those people. I’ll steal everything they have. Then I’ll turn my attention to the destroyed houses where people are living again. They have returned there from other nations. Now they are rich. They have plenty of livestock and all kinds of goods. They are living in Israel. It is the center of the earth.’ 13The people of Sheba and Dedan will speak to you. So will the traders of Tarshish and all its villages. They will say, ‘Have you come to rob us? Have you gathered your huge army together to steal our silver and gold? Are you going to take away from us our livestock and goods? Do you plan to carry off everything we have?’ ” ’
14“Son of man, prophesy. Tell Gog, ‘The Lord and King says, “A time is coming when my people Israel will be living in safety. You will see that it is a good time to attack them. 15So you will come from your place in the far north. Many nations will join you. All their men will be riding on horses. You will have a huge and mighty army. 16They will advance against my people Israel. They will be like a cloud covering their land. Gog, in days to come I will bring you against my land. Then the nations will know me. I will use you to prove to them how holy I am.”
17“ ‘Here is what the Lord and King says to Gog. “In the past I spoke about you through my servants, the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them. 18Here is what will happen in days to come. You will attack the land of Israel. That will stir up my burning anger,” announces the Lord and King. 19“At that time my burning anger will blaze out at you. There will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and the wild animals will tremble with fear. They will tremble with fear because of what I will do. So will every creature that moves along the ground. And so will all the people on earth. The mountains will come crashing down. The cliffs will break into pieces. Every wall will fall to the ground. 21I will punish you on all my mountains,” announces the Lord and King. “Your men will use their swords against one another. 22I will judge you. I will send a plague against you. A lot of blood will be spilled. I will send heavy rain, hailstones and burning sulfur down to the earth. They will fall on you and your troops. They will also come down on the many nations that are helping you. 23That will show how great and holy I am. I will make myself known to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’
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諸国に勝利する主
1さらに、主から別のことばがありました。 2-3「人の子よ。北の方、マゴグの地に顔を向け、メシェクとトバルの王ゴグ（神に敵対する勢力を総結集した軍隊を表す、象徴的な存在）に預言して言え。神である主はこう語る、と。ゴグよ、わたしはおまえの敵となる。 4わたしはおまえのあごに鉤針をかけ、破局へと引きずり込もう。おまえの軍隊や武装した騎兵隊を総動員し、完全武装の強力な大軍に仕立てよう。 5ペルシヤ、エチオピヤ、プテも、それぞれの武器を持っておまえに合流する。 6また、ゴメルとその全軍、北の果てのベテ・トガルマの軍隊、その他多くの軍勢も、おまえの味方につく。
7いつでも出動できるように、備えておくのだ。ゴグよ、おまえが全軍の総指揮官なのだから。 8おまえが出動命令を下すのは、ずっと先のことだ。幾多の年月を経てから、おまえはイスラエルに襲いかかる。そこには、多くの国々から帰って来た民が平穏に暮らしている。 9おまえとその同盟国は、恐ろしい大軍となって、嵐のように攻め寄せ、雲のように地を覆う。
10その時、おまえは悪いことを考えるようになる。 11おまえはこう言うだろう。『イスラエルは、城壁のない、無防備な村の集まりのようなものだ。よし、この地に攻め入り、そんな大胆不敵な態度で暮らしている彼らを、一気にひねりつぶしてやろう。 12一度は廃墟となり、今は国々から戻った者らで栄えている町々を攻め、山のような分捕り物と大ぜいの奴隷を手に入れよう。彼らは、今はたくさんの家畜や財産を持ち、世界の中心のようにふるまっているのだから。』 13だが、シェバやデダン、それにイスラエルと交易しているタルシシュの豪商たちは、こう問い返すだろう。『イスラエルの金銀を奪い、家畜や財産を略奪して彼らを貧乏にしようとするおまえは、いったい何者か。』」
14主はゴグにこう語ります。「わたしの民が自分の国で平和に暮らしている時、おまえは動きだす。 15-16騎兵の大軍を率いて北から攻め入り、雲のようにこの地を覆う。このことが起こるのは終わりの日、末の遠い将来だ。わたしはおまえに、わたしの地を攻めさせる。みなが見ている前で、おまえは徹底的に打ちのめされる。それによってわたしのきよさが示され、すべての国々は、わたしが神であることを知る。」
17神である主はこう語ります。「わたしが昔、イスラエルの預言者たちを通して語った人物とは、おまえのことだ。彼らは、ずっとのちに、わたしがおまえにイスラエルを攻めさせる、と長年にわたり預言していたのだ。 18だが、おまえがイスラエルを滅ぼそうと攻めて来る時、わたしの怒りは燃え上がる。 19その日には、わたしはねたみと激しく燃える怒りとで、イスラエルに大地震を起こそう。 20すべての生き物は、あまりの恐ろしさに、わたしの前で震え上がる。山々は倒れ、崖はくずれ落ち、城壁は粉々に壊れる。 21わたしはおまえをあらゆる恐怖に直面させる。」神である主はこう語ります。「おまえたちは同士打ちで倒れる。 22わたしは、剣、疫病、大洪水、大きな雹、火と硫黄で、おまえと戦おう。 23こうして、わたしの大きさを示し、わたしの誉れを表そう。国々は、わたしが行ったことを聞き、わたしが神であることを知る。」
