Obadiah
Legacy Standard Bible
Edom Will Be Brought Down
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Thus says Lord [a]Yahweh concerning (A)Edom—
(B)We have heard a report from Yahweh,
And an (C)envoy has been sent among the nations saying,
“(D)Arise! And let us arise against her for battle”—
2 “Behold, I will make you (E)small among the nations;
You are greatly despised.
3 The (F)arrogance of your heart has deceived you,
You who dwell in the clefts of [b]the (G)cliff,
In the height of your habitation,
Who says in his heart,
‘(H)Who will bring me down to earth?’
4 Though you (I)build loftily like the eagle,
Though you set your nest among the (J)stars,
From there I will bring you down,” declares Yahweh.
5 “If (K)thieves came to you,
If [c]robbers by night—
Oh how you will be ruined!—
Would they not thieve only [d]until they had enough?
If grape gatherers came to you,
(L)Would they not allow some gleanings to remain?
6 Oh how Esau will be (M)searched out
And his hidden treasures ransacked!
7 All the (N)men who have [e]a covenant with you
Will send you forth to the border,
And the men at peace with you
Will deceive you and overpower you.
They who eat your (O)bread
Will set an ambush for you.
(There is (P)no discernment [f]in him.)
8 Will I not on that day,” declares Yahweh,
“(Q)Cause the wise men to perish from Edom
And discernment from the mountain of Esau?
9 Then your (R)mighty men will be dismayed, O (S)Teman,
So that each one may be (T)cut off from the mountain of Esau by slaughter.
10 “Because of (U)violence to your brother Jacob,
[g]You will be covered with shame,
(V)And you will be cut off forever.
11 On the day that you (W)stood aloof,
On the day that strangers took his wealth captive
And foreigners entered his gate
And (X)cast lots for Jerusalem—
(Y)You too were as one of them.
12 (Z)Now do not look on your brother’s day with triumph,
The day of his misfortune.
And (AA)do not be glad over the sons of Judah
In the day when they perish;
And (AB)do not [h]let your mouth speak great things
In the day of their distress.
13 Do not enter the gate of My people
In the (AC)day of their disaster.
Indeed, you, do not look on their calamity with triumph
In the day of their disaster.
And do not (AD)send out for their wealth
In the day of their disaster.
14 Do not (AE)stand at the fork of the road
To cut down those among them who escape;
And do not deliver over their survivors
In the day of their distress.
The Day of Yahweh Is Near
15 “For the (AF)day of Yahweh draws near on all the nations.
(AG)As you have done, it will be done to you.
Your (AH)dealings will return on your own head.
16 Because just as you all (AI)drank on (AJ)My holy mountain,
All the nations (AK)will drink continually.
They will drink and [i]swallow,
And they will be as if they never were.
17 But on Mount (AL)Zion there will be those who escape,
And it will be holy.
And the house of Jacob will (AM)possess their possessions.
18 Then the house of Jacob will be a (AN)fire
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau will be as stubble.
And they will set [j]them on fire and consume [k]them
So that there will be (AO)no survivor of the house of Esau,”
For Yahweh has spoken.
The Kingdom of Yahweh
19 Then those of the [l]Negev will (AP)possess the mountain of Esau,
And those of the [m]Shephelah, the (AQ)Philistine plain;
And they will (AR)possess the territory of Ephraim and the territory of Samaria,
And Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20 And the exiles of this [n]military force of the sons of Israel,
Who are among the Canaanites as far as (AS)Zarephath,
And the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad,
Will possess the (AT)cities of the Negev.
21 And the (AU)saviors will ascend Mount Zion
To judge the mountain of Esau,
And the (AV)kingdom will belong to Yahweh.
Footnotes
- Obadiah 1:1 The personal covenant name of God, a form of I AM WHO I AM, cf. Ex 3:14-15
- Obadiah 1:3 Or Sela
- Obadiah 1:5 Lit devastators of the night
- Obadiah 1:5 Lit their sufficiency
- Obadiah 1:7 Lit your covenant
- Obadiah 1:7 In Esau; or of it
- Obadiah 1:10 Lit Shame will cover you
- Obadiah 1:12 Lit make your mouth large
- Obadiah 1:16 Or stagger
- Obadiah 1:18 The people of Esau
- Obadiah 1:18 The people of Esau
- Obadiah 1:19 South country
- Obadiah 1:19 Or lowland
- Obadiah 1:20 Or rampart
Obadiah
The Message
Your World Will Collapse
1 Obadiah’s Message to Edom
from God, the Master.
We got the news straight from God
by a special messenger sent out to the godless nations:
“On your feet, prepare for battle;
get ready to make war on Edom!
* * *
2-4 “Listen to this, Edom:
I’m turning you to a no-account,
the runt of the godless nations, despised.
You thought you were so great,
perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain,
Thinking to yourself,
‘Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!’
Think again. Even if, like an eagle,
you hang out on a high cliff-face,
Even if you build your nest in the stars,
I’ll bring you down to earth.”
God’s sure Word.
5-14 “If thieves crept up on you,
they’d rob you blind—isn’t that so?
If they mugged you on the streets at night,
they’d pick you clean—isn’t that so?
Oh, they’ll take Esau apart, piece by piece,
empty his purse and pockets.
All your old partners will drive you to the edge.
Your old friends will lie to your face.
Your old drinking buddies will stab you in the back.
Your world will collapse. You won’t know what hit you.
So don’t be surprised”—it’s God’s sure Word!—
“when I wipe out all sages from Edom
and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men.
Your great heroes will desert you, Teman.
There’ll be nobody left in Esau’s mountains.
Because of the murderous history compiled
against your brother Jacob,
You will be looked down on by everyone.
You’ll lose your place in history.
On that day you stood there and didn’t do anything.
Strangers took your brother’s army into exile.
Godless foreigners invaded and pillaged Jerusalem.
You stood there and watched.
You were as bad as they were.
You shouldn’t have gloated over your brother
when he was down-and-out.
You shouldn’t have laughed and joked at Judah’s sons
when they were facedown in the mud.
You shouldn’t have talked so big
when everything was so bad.
You shouldn’t have taken advantage of my people
when their lives had fallen apart.
You of all people should not have been amused
by their troubles, their wrecked nation.
You shouldn’t have taken the shirt off their back
when they were knocked flat, defenseless.
And you shouldn’t have stood waiting at the outskirts
and cut off refugees,
And traitorously turned in helpless survivors
who had lost everything.
* * *
15-18 “God’s Judgment Day is near
for all the godless nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you.
What you did will boomerang back
and hit your own head.
Just as you partied on my holy mountain,
all the godless nations will drink God’s wrath.
They’ll drink and drink and drink—
they’ll drink themselves to death.
But not so on Mount Zion—there’s respite there!
a safe and holy place!
The family of Jacob will take back their possessions
from those who took them from them.
That’s when the family of Jacob will catch fire,
the family of Joseph become fierce flame,
while the family of Esau will be straw.
Esau will go up in flames,
nothing left of Esau but a pile of ashes.”
God said it, and it is so.
* * *
19-21 People from the south will take over the Esau mountains;
people from the foothills will overrun the Philistines.
They’ll take the farms of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will take Gilead.
Earlier, Israelite exiles will come back
and take Canaanite land to the north at Zarephath.
Jerusalem exiles from the far northwest in Sepharad
will come back and take the cities in the south.
The remnant of the saved in Mount Zion
will go into the mountains of Esau
And rule justly and fairly,
a rule that honors God’s kingdom.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson