Obadiah 1

Obadiah's Vision

1 The vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom—
We have heard a message from the Lord:
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
"Rise, let us go against her for battle"—

2 "See, I will make you small among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rockst
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
'Who can bring me down to the ground?'

4 Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,"
declares the Lord.

5 "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?

6 But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!

7 All your allies will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread will set a trap for you,t
but you will not detect it.

8 "In that day," declares the Lord,
"will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?

9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau's mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.

10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.

11 On the day you stood aloof
while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.

12 You should not gloat over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
in the day of their trouble.

13 You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity
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,
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.

15 "The day of the Lord is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.

16 Just as you drank on my holy hill,
so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.

17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.

18 Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
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.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead.

20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.

21 Deliverers will go up ont Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the Lord's.

OBADIAH 1

Edom's Pride //and Punishment

1  t The [Lord] God gave Obadiah
a messaget about Edom,
and this is what we heard:
“I, the [Lord], have sent
a messenger
with orders for the nations
to attack Edom.”

2 The [Lord] said to Edom:
I will make you the weakest
and most despised nation.

3 You live in a mountain fortress, t
because your pride
makes you feel safe from attack,
but you are mistaken.

4 I will still bring you down,
even if you fly higher
than an eagle
or nest among the stars.
I, the [Lord], have spoken!

5 If thieves break in at night,
they steal
only what they want.
And people who harvest grapes
always leave some unpicked.
But, Edom, you are doomed!

6 Everything you treasure most
will be taken from you.

7 Your allies can't be trusted.
They will force you out
of your own country.
And your best friends
will trick and trap you,
even before you know it.

8 Edom, when this happens,
I, the [Lord], will destroy
all your marvelous wisdom.

9 Warriors from the city of Temant
will be terrified,
and you descendants of Esaut
will be wiped out.

The [Lord] Condemns //Edom's Cruelty

10 You were cruel to your relatives,
the descendants of Jacob.t
Now you will be destroyed,
disgraced forever.

11 You stood there and watched
as foreigners entered Jerusalem
and took what they wanted.
In fact, you were no better
than those foreigners.

12 Why did you celebrate
when such a dreadful disaster
struck your relatives?
Why were you so pleased
when everyone in Judah
was suffering?

13 They are my people,
and you were cruel to them.
You went through their towns,
sneering and stealing
whatever was left.

14 In their time of torment,
you ambushed refugees
and handed them over
to their attackers.

The [Lord] Will Judge //the Nations

15 The day is coming
when I, the [Lord],
will judge the nations.
And, Edom, you will pay in full
for what you have done.

16 I forced the people of Judaht
to drink the wine of my anger
on my sacred mountain.
Soon the neighboring nations
must drink their fill—
then vanish without a trace.

Victory for Israel

17 The [Lord]'s people who escape
will go to Mount Zion,
and it will be holy.
Then Jacob's descendants
will capture the land of those
who took their land.

18 Israelt will be a fire,
and Edom will be straw
going up in flames.
The [Lord] has spoken!

19 The people of Israel
who live in the Southern Desert
will take the land of Edom.
Those who live in the hills
will capture Philistia,
Ephraim, and Samaria.
And the tribe of Benjamin
will conquer Gilead.

20 Those who return from captivity
will control Phoenicia
as far as Zarephath.t
Captives from Jerusalem
who were taken to Sepharadt
will capture the towns
of the Southern Desert.

21 Those the [Lord] has saved
will live on Mount Zion
and rule over Edom.t
Then the kingdom will belong
to the [Lord].