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Messages about Edom

This message was given concerning Edom. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:

“Is there no wisdom in Teman?
    Is no one left to give wise counsel?
Turn and flee!
    Hide in deep caves, you people of Dedan!
For when I bring disaster on Edom,[a]
    I will punish you, too!
Those who harvest grapes
    always leave a few for the poor.
If thieves came at night,
    they would not take everything.
10 But I will strip bare the land of Edom,
    and there will be no place left to hide.
Its children, its brothers, and its neighbors
    will all be destroyed,
    and Edom itself will be no more.
11 But I will protect the orphans who remain among you.
    Your widows, too, can depend on me for help.”

12 And this is what the Lord says: “If the innocent must suffer, how much more must you! You will not go unpunished! You must drink this cup of judgment! 13 For I have sworn by my own name,” says the Lord, “that Bozrah will become an object of horror and a heap of ruins; it will be mocked and cursed. All its towns and villages will be desolate forever.”

14 I have heard a message from the Lord
    that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say,
“Form a coalition against Edom,
    and prepare for battle!”

15 The Lord says to Edom,
“I will cut you down to size among the nations.
    You will be despised by all.
16 You have been deceived
    by the fear you inspire in others
    and by your own pride.
You live in a rock fortress
    and control the mountain heights.
But even if you make your nest among the peaks with the eagles,
    I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord.

17 “Edom will be an object of horror.
    All who pass by will be appalled
    and will gasp at the destruction they see there.
18 It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
    and their neighboring towns,” says the Lord.
“No one will live there;
    no one will inhabit it.
19 I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan,
    leaping on the sheep in the pasture.
I will chase Edom from its land,
    and I will appoint the leader of my choice.
For who is like me, and who can challenge me?
    What ruler can oppose my will?”

20 Listen to the Lord’s plans against Edom
    and the people of Teman.
Even the little children will be dragged off like sheep,
    and their homes will be destroyed.
21 The earth will shake with the noise of Edom’s fall,
    and its cry of despair will be heard all the way to the Red Sea.[b]
22 Look! The enemy swoops down like an eagle,
    spreading his wings over Bozrah.
Even the mightiest warriors will be in anguish
    like a woman in labor.

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Footnotes

  1. 49:8 Hebrew Esau; also in 49:10.
  2. 49:21 Hebrew sea of reeds.

Prophecies against Edom

About Edom,(A) this is what the Lord of Armies says:

Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?(B)
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom rotted away?(C)
Run! Turn back! Lie low,
residents of Dedan,(D)
for I will bring Esau’s calamity on him(E)
at the time I punish him.(F)
If grape harvesters came to you,
wouldn’t they leave a few grapes?(G)
Were thieves to come in the night,
they would destroy only what they wanted.(H)
10 But I will strip Esau bare;
I will uncover his secret places.(I)
He will try to hide,(J) but he will be unable.
His descendants will be destroyed
along with his relatives and neighbors.
He will exist no longer.(K)
11 Abandon your fatherless; I will preserve them;
let your widows trust in me.(L)

12 For this is what the Lord says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink it too. 13 For by myself I have sworn”(M)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“Bozrah[a] will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and an example for cursing, and all its surrounding cities will become ruins forever.”(N)

14 I have heard an envoy from the Lord;
a messenger has been sent among the nations:
Assemble yourselves to come against her.
Rise up for war!

15 I will certainly make you insignificant among the nations,
despised among humanity.
16 As to the terror you cause,[b]
your arrogant heart has deceived you.
You who live in the clefts of the rock,[c]
you who occupy the mountain summit,
though you elevate your nest like the eagles,
even from there I will bring you down.
This is the Lord’s declaration.(O)

17 “Edom will become a desolation. Everyone who passes by her will be appalled and scoff because of all her wounds.(P) 18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,”(Q) says the Lord, “no one will live there; no human being will stay in it even temporarily.(R)

19 “Look, it will be like a lion coming from the thickets[d] of the Jordan to the watered grazing land.(S) I will chase Edom away from her land in a flash. I will appoint whoever is chosen for her. For who is like me?(T) Who will issue me a summons?(U) Who is the shepherd who can stand against me?” (V)

20 Therefore, hear the plans that the Lord has drawn up against Edom and the strategies he has devised against the people of Teman:(W) The flock’s little lambs will certainly be dragged away,(X) and their grazing land will be made desolate because of them.(Y) 21 At the sound of their fall the earth will quake;(Z) the sound of her cry will be heard at the Red Sea.(AA) 22 Look! It will be like an eagle soaring upward, then swooping down and spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman with contractions.(AB)

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Footnotes

  1. 49:13 = Edom’s capital
  2. 49:16 Lit Your horror
  3. 49:16 = Petra
  4. 49:19 Lit pride