Obadiah New Living Translation

¹This is the vision that the Sovereign Lord revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom.

Edom’s Judgment Announced

We have heard a message from the Lord
that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say,
“Get ready, everyone!
Let’s assemble our armies and attack Edom!”

²The Lord says to Edom,
“I will cut you down to size among the nations;
    you will be greatly despised.
³You have been deceived by your own pride
    because you live in a rock fortress
    and make your home high in the mountains.
‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’
    you ask boastfully.
⁴But even if you soar as high as eagles
    and build your nest among the stars,
I will bring you crashing down,”
    says the Lord.

⁵“If thieves came at night and robbed you
    (what a disaster awaits you!),
    they would not take everything.
Those who harvest grapes
    always leave a few for the poor.
    But your enemies will wipe you out completely!
⁶Every nook and cranny of Edom^[a]
    will be searched and looted.
    Every treasure will be found and taken.

⁷“All your allies will turn against you.
    They will help to chase you from your land.
They will promise you peace
    while plotting to deceive and destroy you.
Your trusted friends will set traps for you,
    and you won’t even know about it.
⁸At that time not a single wise person
    will be left in the whole land of Edom,”
    says the Lord.
“For on the mountains of Edom
    I will destroy everyone who has understanding.
⁹The mightiest warriors of Teman
    will be terrified,
and everyone on the mountains of Edom
    will be cut down in the slaughter.

Reasons for Edom’s Punishment

¹⁰“Because of the violence you did
    to your close relatives in Israel,^[b]
you will be filled with shame
    and destroyed forever.
¹¹When they were invaded,
    you stood aloof, refusing to help them.
Foreign invaders carried off their wealth
    and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem,
    but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies.

¹²“You should not have gloated
    when they exiled your relatives to distant lands.
You should not have rejoiced
    when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune.
You should not have spoken arrogantly
    in that terrible time of trouble.
¹³You should not have plundered the land of Israel
    when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have gloated over their destruction
    when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have seized their wealth
    when they were suffering such calamity.
¹⁴You should not have stood at the crossroads,
    killing those who tried to escape.
You should not have captured the survivors
    and handed them over in their terrible time of trouble.

Edom Destroyed, Israel Restored

¹⁵“The day is near when I, the Lord,
    will judge all godless nations!
As you have done to Israel,
    so it will be done to you.
All your evil deeds
    will fall back on your own heads.
¹⁶Just as you swallowed up my people
    on my holy mountain,
so you and the surrounding nations
    will swallow the punishment I pour out on you.
Yes, all you nations will drink and stagger
    and disappear from history.

¹⁷“But Jerusalem^[c] will become a refuge for those who escape;
    it will be a holy place.
And the people of Israel^[d] will come back
    to reclaim their inheritance.
¹⁸The people of Israel will be a raging fire,
    and Edom a field of dry stubble.
The descendants of Joseph will be a flame
    roaring across the field, devouring everything.
There will be no survivors in Edom.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!

¹⁹“Then my people living in the Negev
    will occupy the mountains of Edom.
Those living in the foothills of Judah^[e]
    will possess the Philistine plains
    and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria.
And the people of Benjamin
    will occupy the land of Gilead.
²⁰The exiles of Israel will return to their land
    and occupy the Phoenician coast as far north as Zarephath.
The captives from Jerusalem exiled in the north^[f]
    will return home and resettle the towns of the Negev.
²¹Those who have been rescued^[g] will go up to^[h] Mount Zion in Jerusalem
    to rule over the mountains of Edom.
And the Lord himself will be king!”

Footnotes

6 Hebrew Esau; also in 8b, 9, 18, 19, 21.
10 Hebrew your brother Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
17a Hebrew Mount Zion.
17b Hebrew house of Jacob; also in 18. See note on 10.
19 Hebrew the Shephelah.
20 Hebrew in Sepharad.
21a As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads Rescuers.
21b Or from.