Chronological
God will punish Edom's people
1 This is the vision that Obadiah saw.
The Almighty Lord says this about Edom.[a]
We have heard a message from the Lord.
Someone has taken a message to the nations to say,
‘Stand up and fight against Edom.’
2 The Lord says to Edom,
‘I will make you small among other people.
They will think that you are not worth anything.
3 You think that you are better than other people. And so you believe something that is not true.
You live in a place that is difficult to reach.
Your home is high up in a place among rocks.
You say to yourself,
“Nobody can reach us up here.”
4 You may be like a strong bird that flies high.
And you may make your home in the highest places among the stars.
But I will bring you down from there.’
That is what the Lord says.
5 He says,
‘Men might come in the night
to take away what is yours.
(Oh! What a very bad thing will happen to you!)
But they would not take everything.
If people came to take fruit from your trees,
they would leave some fruit on the tree.
6 But people will take everything from Esau's people (also called Edom).
They will even take the valuable things that you hide.
7 People who have helped you to fight
will push you out from your country.
They will tell you what is not true. You will believe them.
They will be stronger than you
because you will believe their words.
They will make a trap for you.’
8 The Lord says,
‘Some men in Edom know what is right.[b] But, at that time, I will kill them.
Some men in the mountains know what is good. (These are the mountains where Esau's people live.) But I will kill those men.
9 There are men from Teman city that fight. But I will make them afraid.
Esau's people live in the mountains. And everyone there will die.
10 This will happen because you were cruel to your brother Jacob (the people in Israel).
God will make you ashamed because of this and you will die.
11 Men from other countries came into Jerusalem. They took away all the good things from Jerusalem. They played a game for the best things. You were as bad as they were. You did not help the Israelites.
12 Your brothers in Judah were in great trouble.
You thought that you were better than they. But you were wrong to think that.
You should not have been happy when the people in Judah were dying.
You should not have been happy when they were in trouble.
13 You should not have walked like soldiers through my people's gates.
You did that at the time when they were in trouble.
You should not have thought that you were better than they.
You thought it at the time when they were in trouble.
You should not have taken what belonged to them.
14 You waited at the place where the roads joined each other.
You wanted to kill those that ran away from the enemy.
That is why you waited there.
You should not have done that.
Some Israelites were still alive, but they were in trouble.
You should not have taken them to the enemy.
The day of the Lord
15 The day of the Lord will come soon for all the world's people.[c]
God will do to you what you did to other people.
God will be angry with you because you did those things to them.
16 You drank on my special hill.[d]
In the same way, people from all countries will drink and they will not stop.
They will drink until God has killed them.[e]
17 But on Mount Zion, people will be free.
It will be special to me.
Jacob's descendants will have the country that belongs to them.
I will give it to them.
18 The people in Jacob's and Joseph's family will kill all the people that belong to Esau's family.’
This is what the Lord said.
19 People will come from the Negev. They will come to live in the mountains of Edom.
People will come from the low hills in the west, and they will take the Philistines' country for themselves.
They will live in the fields in Ephraim and Samaria.[f]
Benjamin's people will take Gilead.
20 Some people lived in Israel,
but they now have to live with the Canaanites.
They will get the country as far as Zarephath.
Some people lived in Jerusalem, but now they have to be in Sepharad.
They will get the towns in the Negev.
21 Men will come to make Jerusalem free,
and they will rule over Edom.
And that country will belong to the Lord.[g]
This is a psalm that Asaph wrote.
God and the gods[a]
82 God calls the powerful rulers to meet in heaven.
He sits on his throne to judge them.
2 He asks them, ‘How long will you continue to judge people
in a way that is not fair?
How long will you say that wicked people are right?
Selah.
3 You must help poor people and those with no family
to receive justice.
Help those who have pain and trouble
to receive the help that they need.
4 Rescue weak and helpless people,
so that evil people cannot hurt them.
5 The powerful leaders know nothing
and they understand nothing.
They walk about in a dark place.
At the same time the foundation of the earth shakes![b]
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High God.
7 But you will die, as all people die.
You will come to an end, like all other rulers.” ’[c]
8 God, now do something!
Judge all the nations of the earth.
For they all belong to you.
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote.
Israel's enemies
83 God, do not continue to be silent!
Do not remain quiet.
Please do something!
2 Look! Your enemies are causing trouble.
The people who hate you are ready to attack.
3 They decide carefully how they will attack your people.
They want to hurt the people that you love.
4 They say, ‘Come now! We will destroy them.
They will no longer be a nation.
Nobody will remember the name of Israel any more.’
5 They agree together what they will do.
They join one another to fight against you.
6 Those enemies are Edomites and Ishmaelites,
Moabites and Hagrites.
7 They also come from Gebal, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia and Tyre.
8 Even the Assyrian army has joined with them.
They have given strength to Lot's descendants,
the Moabites and the Ammonites.
Selah.
9 God, punish them as you punished Midian.
Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon.[d]
10 You destroyed them at Endor.
Their bodies remained on the ground, like dirt.
11 Do to their leaders
what you did to Oreb and Zeeb.
Let their rulers die,
like Zebah and Zalmunna.[e]
12 Those people said,
‘Let us take God's valuable country for ourselves!’
13 God, blow them away like dust,
like chaff that blows away in the wind!
14 Go after them,
like a fire that burns both forest and mountains.
15 Chase them away with your storms.
Frighten them with your strong winds.
16 Cause them to be very ashamed, Lord,
so that they might turn to you.
17 May they always be ashamed and frightened.
Let them die with shame![f]
18 Then they will understand that you are the Lord.
They will know that you are the Most High God
who rules over all the earth.
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