God Loves Israel

² The Lord said, “I have loved you.”

But you ask, “How have you loved us?”

The Lord said, “Esau and Jacob were brothers. I loved Jacob, ³ but I ·hated [rejected] Esau [Gen. 25:19–34]. I ·destroyed [laid waste] his mountain country and left his ·land [inheritance] to the ·wild dogs [jackals] of the ·desert [wilderness].”

⁴ The people of Edom [^Ldescendants of Esau] might say, “We were ·destroyed [crushed; shattered], but we will go back and rebuild the ruins.”

But the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; ^Tof hosts] says, “If they rebuild them, I will ·destroy [demolish] them. ·People will say, ‘Edom is a wicked country. The Lord is always angry with the Edomites.’ [or They will be known as, ‘The Wicked Land’ and ‘The people always under God’s wrath.’] ⁵ You will see these things with your own eyes. And you will say, ‘The Lord is great, even ·outside [beyond] the borders of Israel!’”