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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
Revelation 9
Contemporary English Version
Revelation 9
Contemporary English Version
9 When the fifth angel blew his trumpet, I saw a star[a] fall from the sky to earth. It was given the key to the tunnel that leads down to the deep pit. 2 (A) As it opened the tunnel, smoke poured out like the smoke of a great furnace. The sun and the air turned dark because of the smoke. 3 (B) Locusts[b] came out of the smoke and covered the earth. They were given the same power that scorpions have.
4 (C) The locusts were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or any tree. They were to punish only those people who did not have God's mark on their foreheads. 5 The locusts were allowed to make them suffer for five months, but not to kill them. The suffering they caused was like the sting of a scorpion. 6 (D) In those days people will want to die, but they will not be able to. They will hope for death, but it will escape from them.
7 (E) These locusts looked like horses ready for battle. On their heads they wore something like gold crowns, and they had human faces. 8 (F) Their hair was like a woman's long hair, and their teeth were like those of a lion. 9 (G) On their chests they wore armor made of iron. Their wings roared like an army of horse-drawn chariots rushing into battle. 10 Their tails were like a scorpion's tail with a stinger that had the power to hurt someone for five months. 11 Their king was the angel in charge of the deep pit. In Hebrew his name was Abaddon, and in Greek it was Apollyon.[c]
12 The first horrible thing has now happened! But wait. Two more horrible things will happen soon.
13 (H) Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet. I heard a voice speak from the four corners of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. 14 The voice spoke to this angel and said, “Release the four angels who are tied up beside the great Euphrates River.” 15 The four angels had been prepared for this very hour and day and month and year. Now they were set free to kill a third of all people.
16 By listening, I could tell there were more than 200,000,000 war horses. 17 (I) In my vision their riders wore fiery-red, dark-blue, and yellow armor on their chests. The heads of the horses looked like lions, with fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 18 One third of all people were killed by the three terrible troubles caused by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur. 19 The horses had powerful mouths, and their tails were like poisonous snakes that bite and hurt.
20 (J) The people who lived through these terrible troubles did not turn away from the idols they had made, and they did not stop worshiping demons. They kept on worshiping idols that were made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood. Not one of these idols could see, hear, or walk. 21 No one stopped murdering or practicing witchcraft or being immoral or stealing.
Revelation 9
New International Version
Revelation 9
New International Version
9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.(A) The star was given the key(B) to the shaft of the Abyss.(C) 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.(D) The sun and sky were darkened(E) by the smoke from the Abyss.(F) 3 And out of the smoke locusts(G) came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions(H) of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm(I) the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,(J) but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.(K) 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.(L) And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion(M) when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.(N)
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.(O) On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.(P) 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.(Q) 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.(R) 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.(S) 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,(T) whose name in Hebrew(U) is Abaddon(V) and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
12 The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.(W)
13 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns(X) of the golden altar that is before God.(Y) 14 It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels(Z) who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”(AA) 15 And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released(AB) to kill a third(AC) of mankind.(AD) 16 The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.(AE)
17 The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths(AF) came fire, smoke and sulfur.(AG) 18 A third(AH) of mankind was killed(AI) by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur(AJ) that came out of their mouths. 19 The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.
20 The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent(AK) of the work of their hands;(AL) they did not stop worshiping demons,(AM) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.(AN) 21 Nor did they repent(AO) of their murders, their magic arts,(AP) their sexual immorality(AQ) or their thefts.
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