Add parallel Print Page Options

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,
“Attack! Let’s go attack Edom!”

The Lord Speaks to the Edomites

“Soon I will make you the smallest of nations.
    You will be greatly hated by everyone.
Your pride has fooled you,
    you who live in the hollow places of the cliff.
    Your home is up high,
you who say to yourself,
    ‘No one can bring me down to the ground.’
Even if you fly high like the eagle
    and make your nest among the stars,
    I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
“You will really be ruined!
If thieves came to you,
    if robbers came by night,
    they would steal only enough for themselves.
If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,
    they would leave a few behind.
But you, Edom, will really lose everything!
    People will find all 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.
Those who eat your bread with you now
    are planning a trap for you,
    and you will not notice it.”

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

Commands That Edom Broke

12 “Edom, do not laugh at your brother Israel in his time of trouble
or be happy about the people of Judah when they are destroyed.
    Do not brag when cruel things are done to them.
13 Do not enter the city gate of my people
    in their time of trouble
or 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 and turn them over to their enemy
    in their time of trouble.

The Nations Will Be Judged

15 “The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon
    to all the nations.
The same evil things you did to other people
    will happen to you;
    they will come back upon your own head.
16 Because you drank in my Temple,
    all the nations will drink on and on.
They will drink and drink
    until they disappear.
17 But on Mount Zion some will escape the judgment,
    and it will be a holy place.
The people of Jacob will take back their land
    from those who took it from them.
18 The people of Jacob will be like a fire
    and the people of Joseph[b] like a flame.
But the people of Esau[c] will be like dry stalks.
    The people of Jacob will set them on fire and burn them up.
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;
    they will take back the mountains of Edom.
They will take back the western hills
    from the Philistines.
They will regain the lands of Ephraim and Samaria,
    and Benjamin will take over Gilead.
20 People from Israel who once were forced to leave their homes
    will take the land of the Canaanites,
    all the way to Zarephath.
People from Judah who once were forced to leave Jerusalem and live in Sepharad
    will take back the cities of southern Judah.
21 Powerful warriors will go up on Mount Zion,
    where they will rule the people living on Edom’s mountains.
    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.
  2. 18 people of Jacob . . . Joseph The people who came from Jacob and Joseph, or the Israelites.
  3. 18 people of Esau The people who came from Esau, or the Edomites.

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