1 “ As for you, O son of man, prophesy against Gog and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2I will turn you around, drive you along, bring you up from the far north, and send you against the mountains of Israel. 3Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and dash down the arrows from your right hand.

4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall — you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast. 5You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.

6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord. 7So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8Yes, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD. This is the day of which I have spoken.

9 Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons— the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.

11 And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day I display My glory, declares the Lord GOD.

14 And men will be employed to continually pass through the land to cleanse it by burying the invaders who remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. 15As they pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will set up a pillar next to it, until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16(Even the city will be named Hamonah.) And so they will cleanse the land.

17 And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18You will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls — all the fattened animals of Bashan. 19At the sacrifice I am preparing, you will eat fat until you are gorged and drink blood until you are drunk. 20And at My table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, of mighty men and warriors of every kind,’ declares the Lord GOD.

21 I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. 22From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. 24I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them.

25 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them. 27When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. 28Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. 29And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

1 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month — in the fourteenth year after Jerusalem had been struck down — on that very day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He took me there. 2In visions of God He took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose southern slope was a structure that resembled a city.

3 So He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4“Son of man,” he said to me, “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Report to the house of Israel everything you see.”

5 And I saw a wall surrounding the temple area. Now the length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits (each measuring a cubit and a handbreadth), and he measured the wall to be one rod thick and one rod high.

6 Then he came to the gate facing east and climbed its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate to be one rod deep. 7Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod wide, and there were five cubits between the gate chambers. The inner threshold of the gate by the portico facing inward was one rod deep. 8Then he measured the portico of the gateway inside; 9it was eight cubits deep, and its jambs were two cubits thick. And the portico of the gateway faced the temple.

10 There were three gate chambers on each side of the east gate, each with the same measurements, and the gateposts on either side also had the same measurements. 11And he measured the width of the gateway entrance to be ten cubits, and its length was thirteen cubits.

12 In front of each gate chamber was a wall one cubit high, and the gate chambers were six cubits square. 13Then he measured the gateway from the roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits from doorway to doorway.

14 Next he measured the gateposts to be sixty cubits high. The gateway extended around to the gatepost of the courtyard. 15And the distance from the entrance of the gateway to the far end of its inner portico was fifty cubits.

16 The gate chambers and their side pillars had beveled windows all around the inside of the gateway. The porticos also had windows all around on the inside. Each side pillar was decorated with palm trees.

17 Then he brought me into the outer court, and there were chambers and a pavement laid out all around the court. Thirty chambers faced the pavement, 18which flanked the gateways and corresponded to the length of the gates; this was the lower pavement.

19 Then he measured the distance from the front of the lower gateway to the outside of the inner court; it was a hundred cubits on the east side as well as on the north.

20 He also measured the length and width of the gateway of the outer court facing north. 21Its three gate chambers on each side, its side pillars, and its portico all had the same measurements as the first gate: fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22Its windows, portico, and palm trees had the same measurements as those of the gate facing east. Seven steps led up to it, with its portico opposite them.

23 There was a gate to the inner court facing the north gate, just as there was on the east. He measured the distance from gateway to gateway to be a hundred cubits.

24 Then he led me to the south side, and I saw a gateway facing south. He measured its side pillars and portico, and they had the same measurements as the others. 25Both the gateway and its portico had windows all around, like the other windows. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 26Seven steps led up to it, and its portico was opposite them; it had palm trees on its side pillars, one on each side.

27 The inner court also had a gate facing south, and he measured the distance from gateway to gateway toward the south to be a hundred cubits.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

20 O foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is worthless? 21Was not our father Abraham justified by what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith was working with his actions, and his faith was perfected by what he did. 23And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called a friend of God. 24As you can see, a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute justified by her actions when she welcomed the spies and sent them off on another route? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal. 4Consider ships as well. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot is inclined.

5 In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be! 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree grow olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.