Add parallel Print Page Options

A Prayer for Mercy

O Lord, remember what has come upon us;
Look, and see our reproach (national disgrace)!

Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
Our houses to foreigners.

We have become orphans without a father;
Our mothers are like widows.

We have to pay for our drinking water;
Our wood comes to us at a price.

Our pursuers are at our necks;
We are worn out, there is no rest for us.

We have given the hand [as a pledge of fidelity and submission] to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.

Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
It is [a]we who have carried their sin.(A)

Servants rule over us;
There is no one to rescue us out of their hand.(B)

We get our bread at the risk of our lives
Because of the sword [of the Arabs] in the wilderness [who may attack if we go out to harvest the crop].
10 
Our skin is as hot as [the heat of] an oven
Because of the burning heat of [the fever of] famine.
11 
They ravished the women in Zion,
The virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 
Princes were hung by their hands;
Elders were not respected.
13 
Young men worked at the grinding mill,
And boys fell [staggering] under loads of wood.
14 
Elders are gone from the gate;
Young men from their music.
15 
The joy of our hearts has ended;
Our dancing has been turned into mourning.
16 
The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is covered with dust]!
Woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 
Because of this our heart is faint,
Because of these things our eyes are dim.
18 
As for Mount Zion, which lies desolate,
Foxes and the jackals prowl over it.

19 
But You, O Lord, reign forever;
Your throne endures from generation to [all] generations.
20 
Why do You forget us forever?
Why do You forsake us so long?
21 
Return us to You, O Lord, so that we may be restored;
Renew our days as of old,
22 
Unless You have utterly rejected us
And are exceedingly angry with us.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Lamentations 5:7 Both forefathers and sons were responsible for the disaster that had come on Jerusalem. This generation was equally deserving of punishment.

Edom Will Be Humbled

The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord God concerning [a]Edom—

We have heard a report from the Lord,
And an ambassador has been sent among the nations, saying,
[b]Arise, and let us rise up against Edom for battle [with the Lord as commander]!”(A)

“Behold [Edom], I shall [humiliate you and] make you small among the nations;
You are greatly despised.(B)

“The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,
You who live in the clefts and lofty security of the rock (Sela),
Whose dwelling place is high,
Who say [boastfully] in your heart,
‘Who will bring me down to earth?’

“Though you build [your nest] on high like the eagle,
Though you set your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

“If thieves came to you,
If robbers by night—
How you will be ruined!—
Would they not steal only until they had enough?
If grape gatherers came to you,
Would they not leave some grapes for gleaning?(C)

“How Esau (Edom) shall be ransacked [by men who come to ravage with divine approval]!
How his hidden treasures shall be searched out!

“All the men allied with you
Shall send you on your way to the border;
The men who were at peace with you
Shall deceive you and overpower you;
Those who eat your bread [those you trust]
Shall set a hostile ambush for you.
(There is no understanding of it.)

“Will I not on that day,” says the Lord,
“Destroy the wise men from Edom [removing all wisdom]
And understanding from the [c]mountain of Esau?

“And your mighty men shall be dismayed and demoralized, O [d]Teman,
So that everyone from the mountain of Esau may be cut off in the slaughter.

Edom Denounced

10 
“Because of the violence you did against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you [completely],
And you shall be cut off forever.
11 
“On the day that [Jerusalem was destroyed] you stood aloof [from your brother Jacob]—
On the day that strangers took his forces captive and carried off his wealth,
And foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem [dividing the city for plunder]—
You too were like one of them [collaborating with the enemy].(D)
12 
“Do not gaze and gloat [in triumph] over your brother’s day,
The day when his misfortune came.
Do not rejoice over the sons of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Do not speak arrogantly [jeering and maliciously mocking]
In the day of their distress.
13 
“Do not enter the gate of My people
In the day of their disaster;
Yes, you, do not look [with delight] on their misery
In the day of their ruin,
And do not loot treasures
In the day of their ruin.
14 
“Do not stand at the crossroad
To cut down those [of Judah] who escaped;
And do not hand over [to the enemy] those [of Judah] who survive
In the day of their distress.

The Day of the Lord and the Future

15 
“For the [judgment] day of the Lord draws near on all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you [in retribution];
Your [evil] dealings will return on your own head.(E)
16 
“Because just as you [Edom] drank on My holy mountain [desecrating it in the revelry of the destroyers],
So shall all the nations drink continually [one by one, of My wrath];
Yes, they shall drink and swallow [the full measure of punishment]
And become as though they had never existed.(F)
17 
“But on Mount Zion [in Jerusalem] there shall be [deliverance for] those who escape,
And it shall be holy [no pagan will defile it];
And the house of Jacob shall possess their [former] possessions.(G)
18 
“Then the house of Jacob shall be a fire
And the house of Joseph a flame [in executing God’s wrath];
But the house of Esau will be like stubble.
They (Jacob) shall set them on fire and consume them (the Edomites),
So that there shall be no survivor of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.(H)
19 
Then those of the Negev shall possess the mountain of Esau,
And those of the Shephelah [shall possess] the Philistine plain;
Also, [they shall] possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria,
And Benjamin will possess Gilead [across the Jordan River].(I)
20 
And the exiles of this host of the sons (descendants) of Israel
Who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath,
And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in [e]Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the Negev.
21 
The deliverers shall go up on Mount Zion
To rule and judge the mountain of Esau,
And the kingdom and the kingship shall be the Lord’s.(J)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Obadiah 1:1 The people of Edom were descendants of Esau (Gen 25:30; 36:1). Edom was the country southeast of Judah extending from the Dead Sea to the eastern arm of the Red Sea. The capital city was Sela, also known as Petra (both names mean rock). The country of Moab formed Edom’s boundary on the north. Edom and Moab have a remarkably prominent place in prophecy as “the scene of the final destruction of Gentile world power in the day of the Lord” (Scofield Reference Bible). See the Scripture references following the first verse which outline the picture of what lies ahead for the nations of the world.
  2. Obadiah 1:1 The Hebrew verb “to stand” or “arise” is an instruction to prepare to fulfill a command, somewhat similar to the military command “attention.”
  3. Obadiah 1:8 Idumea, a mountainous region.
  4. Obadiah 1:9 Teman was one of the main cities of Edom.
  5. Obadiah 1:20 Location uncertain, possibly Sparta or Sardis.

Gedaliah Made Governor

22 Now over the people whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had left in the land of Judah, he appointed [as governor] Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. 23 When all the captains of the forces, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah governor, they came with their men to Gedaliah at Mizpah, namely, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maacathite. 24 Gedaliah swore [an oath] to them and their men, and said to them, “Do not be afraid of the servants (officials) of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you.”

25 But in the seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [who had a claim to be governor], came with ten men and struck and killed Gedaliah and the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah. 26 Then all the people, both small and great, and the captains of the forces set out and went to Egypt; for they were afraid of the Chaldeans (Babylonians).

Read full chapter

Now when all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country [of Judah] and their men heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in the land [of Judah] and had put him in charge of the men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon, they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maacathite, they and their men. Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, swore to them and their men, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans; stay in this land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. 10 As for me, I am going to stay at Mizpah to stand [for you] before the Chaldeans who come to us [ministering to them and looking after the king’s interests]; but as for you, gather in wine, summer fruit and oil and store them in your utensils [designed for such purposes], and live in your cities that you have taken over.” 11 Likewise, when all the Jews who were in Moab and among the people of Ammon and in Edom and who were in all the [other] countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant [of the people] in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan over them [as governor], 12 then all the Jews returned from all the places to which they had been driven and came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered a great abundance of wine and summer fruits.

13 Moreover, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were [scattered] in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14 and said to him, “Do you know that Baalis the king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. 15 Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “Let me go and kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know [who is responsible]. Why should he kill you and cause all the Jews who are gathered near you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?” 16 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “Do not do this thing, for you are lying about Ishmael.”

Gedaliah Is Murdered

41 Now in the [a]seventh month Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family [of David] and one of the princes of the king, came [at the instigation of the Ammonites] with ten men to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam in Mizpah. As they were eating a meal together there in Mizpah, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and killed the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land.(A) Ishmael also killed all the Jews who were [at the banquet] with Gedaliah at Mizpah, in addition to the Chaldean soldiers who were there.

Now it happened on the second day after the killing of Gedaliah, before anyone knew about it, that eighty men came from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria with their beards shaved off and their clothes torn and their bodies cut, carrying in their hands grain offerings and incense to present at the [site of the] house of the Lord [in Jerusalem]. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping [false tears] as he went. As he met them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” Yet when they came into the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men who were with him slaughtered them and threw them into the cistern (underground water reservoir). But ten men who were among them said to Ishmael, “Do not kill us! We have stores of wheat and barley and oil and honey hidden in the field.” So he stopped and did not kill them along with their companions.

Now the cistern into which Ishmael had thrown all the corpses of the men whom he had killed along with Gedaliah was the one which King Asa [of Judah] had made [about three hundred years earlier] on account of King Baasha of Israel [believing that Baasha would lay siege to Mizpah]. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [the bodies of] those who were killed. 10 Then Ishmael took captive all the rest of the people who were in Mizpah—even the king’s daughters (ladies of the court) and all the people who remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had put under the charge of Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and crossed over [the Jordan] to [meet his allies] the Ammonites.

Johanan Rescues the People

11 But when Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him heard of the murderous behavior of Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, 12 they took all their men and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and found him by the great pool in Gibeon. 13 Now when all the [captive] people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, they were glad. 14 So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and came back, and joined Johanan the son of Kareah. 15 But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men and went to join the Ammonites. 16 Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him took from Mizpah all the people whom he had rescued from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after Ishmael had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: the soldiers, the women, the children, and the high officials whom Johanan had brought back from Gibeon. 17 And they went and stayed in Geruth [the lodging place of] Chimham, which is near Bethlehem, intending to go to Egypt 18 because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had killed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had appointed [governor] over the land [and whose death the king might avenge].

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 41:1 The year in which the assassination occurred is uncertain, but it was probably two or three years after the Babylonian conquest.

Bible Gateway Recommends