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Obadiah
English Standard Version
Obadiah
English Standard Version
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Edom Will Be Humbled
Thus says the Lord God (A)concerning Edom:
(B)We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.[a]
3 (C)The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,[b]
in your lofty dwelling,
(D)who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
5 If (E)thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If (F)grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 (G)How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
(H)those who eat your bread[c] have set a trap beneath you—
(I)you have[d] no understanding.
8 (J)Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of (K)Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, (L)O Teman,
so that every man from (M)Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Edom's Violence Against Jacob
10 (N)Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
(O)and you shall be cut off forever.
11 (P)On the day that you stood aloof,
(Q)on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
(R)and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 (S)But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
(T)do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
(U)do not boast[e]
in the day of distress.
13 (V)Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
(W)do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
(X)do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 (Y)Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
The Day of the Lord Is Near
15 For (Z)the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
(AA)As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
16 (AB)For as you have drunk on (AC)my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
17 (AD)But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
(AE)and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
18 (AF)The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau (AG)stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
(AH)and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.
The Kingdom of the Lord
19 Those of (AI)the Negeb (AJ)shall possess (AK)Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess (AL)the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of (AM)Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as (AN)Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
21 (AO)Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule (AP)Mount Esau,
and (AQ)the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
Footnotes
- Obadiah 1:2 Or Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised
- Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
- Obadiah 1:7 Hebrew lacks those who eat
- Obadiah 1:7 Hebrew he has
- Obadiah 1:12 Hebrew do not enlarge your mouth
Obadiah
Contemporary English Version
Obadiah
Contemporary English Version
Edom's Pride and Punishment
1 (A) The Lord God gave Obadiah
a message[a] 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,[b]
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 Teman[c]
will be terrified,
and you descendants of Esau[d]
will be wiped out.
The Lord Condemns Edom's Cruelty
10 You were cruel to your relatives,
the descendants of Jacob.[e]
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 Judah[f]
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 Israel[g] 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.[h]
Captives from Jerusalem
who were taken to Sepharad[i]
will capture the towns
of the Southern Desert.
21 Those the Lord has saved
will live on Mount Zion
and rule over Edom.[j]
Then the kingdom will belong
to the Lord.
Footnotes
- 1 message: Or “vision.”
- 3 mountain fortress: The Hebrew text has “rocky cliff,” which sounds like “Sela,” the capital of Edom, a fortress city built on a mountain.
- 9 Teman: A famous city in Edom.
- 9 descendants of Esau: The people of Edom were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob (Israel).
- 10 descendants of Jacob: Jacob and Esau were brothers (see the note on Esau at verse 9).
- 16 I forced … Judah: Or “I will force the people of Edom.”
- 18 Israel: Hebrew “The descendants of Jacob and of Joseph.”
- 20 Those who return … Zarephath: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 20 Sepharad: Possibly the city of Sardis, the capital of Lydia, a country north and west of Media. This would refer to those captives from Judah who had been taken beyond the kingdom of Babylonia.
- 21 Those the Lord … Edom: Or “Leaders on (from) Mount Zion will save the people and rule over Edom.”
Obadiah
New International Version
Obadiah
New International Version
Obadiah’s Vision(A)(B)
1 The vision(C) of Obadiah.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom(D)—
We have heard a message from the Lord:
An envoy(E) was sent to the nations to say,
“Rise, let us go against her for battle”(F)—
2 “See, I will make you small(G) among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
3 The pride(H) of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks[a](I)
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’(J)
4 Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest(K) among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,”(L)
declares the Lord.(M)
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?(N)
6 But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
7 All your allies(O) will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread(P) will set a trap for you,[b]
but you will not detect it.
8 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“will I not destroy(Q) the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman,(R) will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence(S) against your brother Jacob,(T)
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed forever.(U)
11 On the day you stood aloof
while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots(V) for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.(W)
12 You should not gloat(X) over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,(Y)
nor rejoice(Z) over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,(AA)
nor boast(AB) so much
in the day of their trouble.(AC)
13 You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity(AD)
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,(AE)
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
15 “The day of the Lord is near(AF)
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds(AG) will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drank(AH) on my holy hill,(AI)
so all the nations will drink(AJ) continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.(AK)
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;(AL)
it will be holy,(AM)
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.(AN)
18 Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire(AO) and destroy(AP) him.
There will be no survivors(AQ)
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.(AR)
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,(AS)
and Benjamin(AT) will possess Gilead.
20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;(AU)
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.(AV)
21 Deliverers(AW) will go up on[c] Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.(AX)
Footnotes
- Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
- Obadiah 1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
- Obadiah 1:21 Or from
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