Ezekiel 35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 35
Against Edom.[a] 1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it. 3 Say to it: Thus says the Lord God: Watch out! I am against you, Mount Seir. I will stretch out my hand against you and turn you into a desolate waste.(A) 4 Your cities I will turn into ruins, and you shall be a desolation; then you shall know that I am the Lord.(B)
5 Because you nursed a long-standing hatred and handed the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their collapse, at the time of their final punishment,[b](C) 6 therefore, as I live—oracle of the Lord God—you are guilty of blood, and blood, I swear, shall pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it anyone who travels across it and back.(D) 8 I will fill its mountains with the slain; those slain by the sword shall fall on your hills, into your valleys and all your ravines.
9 I will make you a desolation forever,
your cities will not be inhabited,
and you shall know that I am the Lord.(E)
10 Because you said: The two nations and the two lands[c] belong to me; let us take possession of them—although the Lord was there— 11 therefore, as I live—oracle of the Lord God—I will deal with you according to the anger and envy you dealt out to them in your hatred, and I will make myself known to them when I execute judgment on you,(F) 12 then you shall know that I am the Lord.
I have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying: They are desolate; they have been given to us to devour. 13 You boasted against me with your mouths and used insolent words against me. I heard everything! 14 Thus says the Lord God: Because you rejoiced that the whole land was desolate, so I will do to you. 15 As you rejoiced over the devastation of the heritage of the house of Israel, the same I will do to you: you will become a ruin, Mount Seir, and the whole of Edom, all of it! Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(G)
Footnotes
- 35:1–15 After the fall of Jerusalem, Edom assisted the Babylonians in devastating the land and subduing the population in order to occupy part of Judah’s former territory. For this reason these oracles against Edom are found in the context of the city’s fall.
- 35:5 Final punishment: throughout this oracle the prophet echoes the threat against the mountains of Israel found in chaps. 6–7.
- 35:10 The two nations and the two lands: by presenting Edom’s excursion into the southern territory of Judah as its claim to both kingdoms, Ezekiel exaggerates Edom’s greed and arrogance. Lord was there: Edom’s betrayal of Judah becomes an attack on Judah’s God, the land’s sovereign. In 11:15 and 33:24, Ezekiel condemns Judahites who annex land that does not belong to them. Now the exiles in Babylon learn that even though God had left Jerusalem (chap. 11), he witnesses Edom’s insolence and pronounces judgment against it. Cf. 48:35, “The Lord is there!”
Isaiah 34:5-17
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
5 When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it shall come down upon Edom for judgment,
upon a people under my ban.(A)
6 The Lord has a sword sated with blood,
greasy with fat,
With the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of rams’ kidneys;
For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.(B)
7 Wild oxen shall be struck down with fatlings,
and bullocks with bulls;
Their land shall be soaked with blood,
and their soil greasy with fat.
8 [a]For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
a year of requital for the cause of Zion.(C)
9 Edom’s streams shall be changed into pitch,
its soil into sulfur,
and its land shall become burning pitch;
10 Night and day it shall not be quenched,
its smoke shall rise forever.
From generation to generation it shall lie waste,
never again shall anyone pass through it.(D)
11 But the desert owl and hoot owl shall possess it,
the screech owl and raven shall dwell in it.
The Lord will stretch over it the measuring line of chaos,
the plumb line of confusion.[b](E)
12 Its nobles shall be no more,
nor shall kings be proclaimed there;
all its princes are gone.(F)
13 Its castles shall be overgrown with thorns,
its fortresses with thistles and briers.
It shall become an abode for jackals,
a haunt for ostriches.(G)
14 Wildcats shall meet with desert beasts,
satyrs[c] shall call to one another;
There shall the lilith repose,
and find for herself a place to rest.
15 There the hoot owl shall nest and lay eggs,
hatch them out and gather them in her shadow;
There shall the kites assemble,
each with its mate.
16 Search through the book of the Lord[d] and read:
not one of these shall be lacking,
For the mouth of the Lord has ordered it,
and his spirit gathers them there.
17 It is he who casts the lot for them;
his hand measures off[e] their portions;
They shall possess it forever,
and dwell in it from generation to generation.(H)
Footnotes
- 34:8–17 The extreme hostility against Edom in this passage is reflected in a number of other prophetic texts from the seventh and sixth centuries B.C. (cf. e.g., 63:1–6; Jer 49:7–22; Ez 25:12–14). The animus was probably prompted by Edomite infiltration of the southern territories of Judah, especially after the Babylonian conquest of Judah.
- 34:11 Chaos…confusion: tohu…bohu in Hebrew, the terms used to describe the primeval chaos in Gn 1:2.
- 34:14 Satyrs: see note on 13:21. The lilith: a female demon thought to roam about the desert.
- 34:16 Book of the Lord: a list of God’s creatures; cf. Ex 32:32–33; Ps 69:29, “the book of the living”; Ps 139:16, “your book.”
- 34:17 Casts the lot…measures off: an ironic reference to how land might be distributed to new possessors (cf. Jos 14–21; Mi 2:5).
Isaiah 63:1-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 63
The Divine Warrior[a]
1 Who is this that comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments, from Bozrah?
Who is this, glorious in his apparel,
striding in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, I who announce vindication,
mighty to save.”(A)
2 Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like one who treads the wine press?(B)
3 “The wine press I have trodden alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me.
I trod them in my anger,
and trampled them down in my wrath;
Their blood spurted on my garments,
all my apparel I stained.
4 For a day of vindication was in my heart,
my year for redeeming had come.(C)
5 I looked about, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that there was no one to lend support;
So my own arm brought me victory
and my own wrath lent me support.(D)
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger,
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their blood upon the ground.”
Footnotes
- 63:1–6 Two questions are raised at the approach of a majestic figure coming from Edom. It is the Lord, his garments red with the blood from the judgment battle. Edom (its capital Bozrah) plundered Judah after the fall of Jerusalem; cf. 34:5–17. Wine press: here a symbol of a bloody judgment; cf. Lam 1:15; Jl 4:13.
Jeremiah 49:7-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Is there no more wisdom in Teman,[a]
has counsel perished from the prudent,
is their wisdom gone?
8 Flee, retreat, hide deep for lodging,
inhabitants of Dedan:
For I bring disaster upon Esau[b]
when I come to punish them.(A)
9 If vintagers came upon you,
they would leave no gleanings;
If thieves by night,
they would destroy as they pleased.(B)
10 So I myself will strip Esau;
I will uncover his lairs so he cannot hide.
Offspring and family are destroyed,
neighbors, too; he is no more.(C)
11 Leave your orphans behind, I will keep them alive;
your widows, let them trust in me.(D)
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