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The Lord Will Punish the Edomites

This is the vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Lord God says about Edom:[a]

We have heard a message from the Lord.
    A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying
“Let’s go attack Edom!”

The Lord Speaks to the Edomites

“Look, I have made you only a small nation.
    Others do not respect you.
But your pride has fooled you.
    You live in the hollow places of the cliff.
    Your home is up high.
And you say to yourself,
    ‘No one can bring me down to the ground.’
You fly high like the eagle.
    You make your nest among the stars.
    But I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
“You will really be ruined!
It would be better if thieves come to you,
    if robbers come by night.
    They would steal only enough for themselves.
Workers come and pick the grapes from your vines.
    But they would leave a few grapes behind.
But you, Edom, will really lose everything!
    People will find even your hidden treasures!
All the people who are your friends
    will force you out of the land.
The people who are at peace with you
    will trick you and defeat you.
They eat your bread with you now.
    But they are planning a trap for you.
    And you will not notice it.”

The Lord says, “On that day
    I will surely destroy the wise men from Edom.
    I will destroy these men of understanding from the mountains of Edom.
Then, city of Teman, your mighty men will be afraid.
    And everyone from the mountains of Edom will be killed.
10 You did violence against your relatives, the people of Israel.
    So you will be covered with shame.
    You will be destroyed forever.
11 You stood aside without helping
    while strangers carried Israel’s treasures away.
Foreigners entered Israel’s city gate.
    They threw lots to decide what part of Jerusalem they would take.
    At that time you were like one of those foreigners.

Commands That Edom Broke

12 “Do not laugh at your brothers’ trouble.
Do not be happy when people destroy Judah.
Do not brag about the cruel things done to them.
13 Do not enter the city gate of my people
    in their time of trouble.
Do not laugh at their problems
    in their time of trouble.
Do not take their treasures
    in their time of trouble.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
    to destroy those who are trying to escape.
Do not capture those who escape alive
    in a time of trouble.

The Nations Will Be Judged

15 “The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon
    to all the nations.
You did evil things to other people.
    Those same things will happen to you.
    They will come back upon your own head.
16 Because you joined the nations in robbing my Temple,
    you drank my anger.
So all the nations will drink my anger.
    They will be punished so much that they will disappear.
17 But on Mount Zion some will be left alive.
    The mountain will be a holy place.
The people of Jacob will take back their land.
    They will take it from those who took it from them.
18 The people of Jacob, the Israelites, will be like a fire.
    And the people of Joseph will be like a flame.
But the people of Esau, the Edomites, will be like dry stalks.
    The people of Jacob will set these stalks on fire.
They will burn up the Edomites.
    Then there will be no one left of the people of Esau.”
This will happen because the Lord has said it.

19 Then God’s people will regain southern Judah from Edom,
    the mountain of Esau.
They will take back the western mountain slopes
    from the Philistines.
They will regain the lands of Ephraim and Samaria.
    And Benjamin will take over Gilead.
20 People from Israel once were forced to leave their homes.
    But at that time they will take the land of the Canaanites.
    They will take it all the way to Zarephath.
People from Judah were once forced to leave Jerusalem
    and live in Sepharad.
But at that time they will take back
    the cities of southern Judah.
21 Powerful warriors will go up on Mount Zion.
    There they will rule the people living on Edom’s mountain.
    And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Edom The Edomites were the people who came from Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. They were enemies of the Israelites.

Obadiah’s Vision(A)(B)

The vision(C) of Obadiah.

This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom(D)

We have heard a message from the Lord:
    An envoy(E) was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”(F)

“See, I will make you small(G) among the nations;
    you will be utterly despised.
The pride(H) of your heart has deceived you,
    you who live in the clefts of the rocks[a](I)
    and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
    ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’(J)
Though you soar like the eagle
    and make your nest(K) among the stars,
    from there I will bring you down,”(L)
declares the Lord.(M)
“If thieves came to you,
    if robbers in the night—
oh, what a disaster awaits you!—
    would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
    would they not leave a few grapes?(N)
But how Esau will be ransacked,
    his hidden treasures pillaged!
All your allies(O) will force you to the border;
    your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread(P) will set a trap for you,[b]
    but you will not detect it.

“In that day,” declares the Lord,
    “will I not destroy(Q) the wise men of Edom,
    those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
Your warriors, Teman,(R) will be terrified,
    and everyone in Esau’s mountains
    will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence(S) against your brother Jacob,(T)
    you will be covered with shame;
    you will be destroyed forever.(U)
11 On the day you stood aloof
    while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
    and cast lots(V) for Jerusalem,
    you were like one of them.(W)
12 You should not gloat(X) over your brother
    in the day of his misfortune,(Y)
nor rejoice(Z) over the people of Judah
    in the day of their destruction,(AA)
nor boast(AB) so much
    in the day of their trouble.(AC)
13 You should not march through the gates of my people
    in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity(AD)
    in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
    in the day of their disaster.
14 You should not wait at the crossroads
    to cut down their fugitives,(AE)
nor hand over their survivors
    in the day of their trouble.

15 “The day of the Lord is near(AF)
    for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
    your deeds(AG) will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drank(AH) on my holy hill,(AI)
    so all the nations will drink(AJ) continually;
they will drink and drink
    and be as if they had never been.(AK)
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;(AL)
    it will be holy,(AM)
    and Jacob will possess his inheritance.(AN)
18 Jacob will be a fire
    and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
    and they will set him on fire(AO) and destroy(AP) him.
There will be no survivors(AQ)
    from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.

19 People from the Negev will occupy
    the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
    the land of the Philistines.(AR)
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,(AS)
    and Benjamin(AT) will possess Gilead.
20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
    will possess the land as far as Zarephath;(AU)
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
    will possess the towns of the Negev.(AV)
21 Deliverers(AW) will go up on[c] Mount Zion
    to govern the mountains of Esau.
    And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.(AX)

Footnotes

  1. Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
  2. Obadiah 1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
  3. Obadiah 1:21 Or from

The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised.

The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?

Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?

How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up!

All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.

Shall I not in that day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?

And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;

14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.

17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.