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The Lord's Victory over the Nations

63 (A)“Who is this coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom? Who is this so splendidly dressed in red, marching along[a] in power and strength?”

It is the Lord, powerful to save, coming to announce his victory.

“Why is his clothing so red, like that of someone who tramples grapes to make wine?”

(B)The Lord answers, “I have trampled the nations like grapes, and no one came to help me. I trampled them in my anger, and their blood has stained all my clothing. I decided that the time to save my people had come; it was time to punish their enemies. (C)I was amazed when I looked and saw that there was no one to help me. But my anger made me strong, and I won the victory myself. In my anger I trampled whole nations and shattered them. I poured out their lifeblood on the ground.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 63:1 Some ancient translations marching along; Hebrew bowed down.

The Lord's Judgment on Edom

(A)This is what the Lord Almighty said about Edom: “Have the people of Edom lost their good judgment? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared? People of Dedan, turn and run! Hide! I am going to destroy Esau's descendants because the time has come for me to punish them. When people pick grapes, they leave a few on the vines, and when robbers come at night, they take only what they want. 10 But I[a] have stripped Esau's descendants completely and uncovered their hiding places, so that they can no longer hide. All the people of Edom are destroyed. Not one of them is left. 11 Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me.

12 “If even those who did not deserve to be punished had to drink from the cup of punishment, do you think that you will go unpunished? No, you must drink from the cup! 13 I myself have sworn that the city of Bozrah will become a horrifying sight and a desert; people will make fun of it and use its name as a curse. All the nearby villages will be in ruins forever. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

14 I said, “Edom, I have received a message from the Lord. He has sent a messenger to tell the nations to assemble their armies and to get ready to attack you. 15 The Lord is going to make you weak, and no one will respect you. 16 Your pride has deceived you. No one fears you as much as you think they do. You live on the rocky cliffs, high on top of the mountain; but even though you live as high up as an eagle, the Lord will bring you down. The Lord has spoken.”

17 The Lord said, “The destruction that will come on Edom will be so terrible that everyone who passes by will be shocked and terrified. 18 (B)The same thing will happen to Edom that happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when they and the nearby towns were destroyed. No one will ever live there again. I, the Lord, have spoken. 19 (C)Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan River up to the green pasture land, I will come and make the Edomites run away suddenly from their country. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me? 20 So listen to the plan that I have made against the people of Edom, and to what I intend to do to the people of the city of Teman. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified. 21 When Edom falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard as far away as the Gulf of Aqaba. 22 The enemy will attack Bozrah like an eagle swooping down with outspread wings. On that day Edom's soldiers will be as frightened as a woman in labor.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 49:10 they leave a few … they take only what they want. 10 But I; or they leave nothing … they take everything. 10 And so I.

Prophecy against Edom

12 (A)The Sovereign Lord said, “The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom. 13 Now I announce that I will punish Edom and kill every person and animal there. I will make it a wasteland, from the city of Teman to the city of Dedan, and the people will be killed in battle. 14 My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

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The Road of Holiness

35 The desert will rejoice,
    and flowers will bloom in the wastelands.
The desert will sing and shout for joy;
    it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon Mountains
    and as fertile as the fields of Carmel and Sharon.
Everyone will see the Lord's splendor,
    see his greatness and power.

(A)Give strength to hands that are tired
    and to knees that tremble with weakness.
Tell everyone who is discouraged,
    “Be strong and don't be afraid!
    God is coming to your rescue,
    coming to punish your enemies.”

(B)The blind will be able to see,
    and the deaf will hear.
The lame will leap and dance,
    and those who cannot speak will shout for joy.
Streams of water will flow through the desert;
    the burning sand will become a lake,
    and dry land will be filled with springs.
Where jackals used to live,
    marsh grass and reeds will grow.

There will be a highway there,
    called “The Road of Holiness.”
No sinner will ever travel that road;
    no fools will mislead those who follow it.[a]
No lions will be there;
    no fierce animals will pass that way.
Those whom the Lord has rescued
    will travel home by that road.
10 They will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
    singing and shouting for joy.
They will be happy forever,
    forever free from sorrow and grief.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 35:8 Probable text no fools … follow it; Hebrew unclear.

Edom

11 (A)The Lord says, “The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives,[a] the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die. 12 So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah.”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 1:11 The Israelites were descended from Jacob, who was the brother of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.

This is the prophecy of Obadiah—what the Sovereign Lord said about the nation of Edom.

The Lord Will Punish Edom

The Lord has sent his messenger to the nations,
    and we have heard his message:
    “Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!”
The Lord says to Edom,
    “I will make you weak;
    everyone will despise you.
Your pride has deceived you.
Your capital is a fortress of solid rock;
    your home is high in the mountains,
and so you say to yourself,
    ‘Who can ever pull me down?’
Even though you make your home
    as high as an eagle's nest,
    so that it seems to be among the stars,
yet I will pull you down.

“When thieves come at night,
    they take only what they want.
When people gather grapes,
    they always leave a few.
But your enemies have wiped you out completely.
Descendants of Esau, your treasures have been looted.
Your allies have deceived you;
    they have driven you from your country.
People who were at peace with you have now conquered you.
    Those friends who ate with you have laid a trap for you;
    they say of you, ‘Where is all that cleverness he had?’

“On the day I punish Edom,
    I will destroy their clever men
    and wipe out all their wisdom.
The fighting men of Teman will be terrified,
    and every soldier in Edom will be killed.

Reasons for Edom's Punishment

10 “Because you robbed and killed
    your relatives,[a] the descendants of Jacob,
    you will be destroyed and dishonored forever.
11 You stood aside on that day
    when enemies broke down their gates.
You were as bad as those strangers
    who carried off Jerusalem's wealth
    and divided it among themselves.
12 You should not have gloated
    over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah.
You should not have been glad
    on the day of their ruin.
You should not have laughed at them
    in their distress.
13 You should not have entered the city of my people
    to gloat over their suffering
    and to seize their riches
    on the day of their disaster.
14 (A)You should not have stood at the crossroads
    to catch those trying to escape.
You should not have handed them over to the enemy
    on the day of their distress.

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Footnotes

  1. Obadiah 1:10 The Israelites were descended from Jacob, who was the brother of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites.

The Lord's Love for Israel

(A)The Lord says to his people, “I have always loved you.”

But they reply, “How have you shown your love for us?”

The Lord answers, “Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, and have hated Esau and his descendants. I have devastated Esau's hill country and abandoned the land to jackals.”

If Esau's descendants, the Edomites, say, “Our towns have been destroyed, but we will rebuild them,” then the Lord will reply, “Let them rebuild—I will tear them down again. People will call them ‘The evil country’ and ‘The nation with whom the Lord is angry forever.’”

The people of Israel are going to see this with their own eyes, and they will say, “The Lord is mighty even outside the land of Israel!”

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