Chronological
Proud Edom Will Be Brought Low
1 The vision of Obadi′ah.
Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom:
We have heard tidings 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.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,[a]
whose dwelling is high,
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,
thence I will bring you down,
says the Lord.
Pillage and Slaughter Will Repay Edom’s Cruelty
5 If thieves came to you,
if plunderers by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have deceived you,
they have driven you to the border;
your confederates have prevailed against you;
your trusted friends have set a trap under you—
there is no understanding of it.
8 Will I not on that day, says the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman,
so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Edom Mistreated His Brother
10 For the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off for ever.
11 On the day that you stood aloof,
on the day that strangers carried off his wealth,
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 But you should not have gloated over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
you should not have boasted
in the day of distress.
13 You should not have entered the gate of my people
in the day of his calamity;
you should not have gloated over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
you should not have looted his goods
in the day of his calamity.
14 You should not have stood at the parting of the ways
to cut off his fugitives;
you should not have delivered up his survivors
in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
As you have done, it shall be done to you,
your deeds shall return on your own head.
16 For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain,
all the nations round about shall drink;
they shall drink, and stagger,[b]
and shall be as though they had not been.
Israel’s Final Triumph
17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those that escape,
and it shall be holy;
and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
and there shall be no survivor to the house of Esau;
for the Lord has spoken.
19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephe′lah the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of E′phraim and the land of Samar′ia
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 The exiles in Halah[c] who are of the people of Israel
shall possess[d] Phoenicia as far as Zar′ephath;
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sephar′ad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule Mount Esau;
and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.
A Plea for Justice
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?Selah
3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
they walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I say, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, you shall die like men,
and fall like any prince.”[a]
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for to thee belong all the nations!
Prayer for Judgment on Israel’s Foes
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
83 O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold thy peace or be still, O God!
2 For lo, thy enemies are in tumult;
those who hate thee have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against thy people;
they consult together against thy protected ones.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5 Yea, they conspire with one accord;
against thee they make a covenant—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ish′maelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Am′alek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined them;
they are the strong arm of the children of Lot.Selah
9 Do to them as thou didst to Mid′ian,
as to Sis′era and Jabin at the river Kishon,
10 who were destroyed at En-dor,
who became dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmun′na,
12 who said, “Let us take possession for ourselves
of the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like whirling dust,[b]
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire consumes the forest,
as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so do thou pursue them with thy tempest
and terrify them with thy hurricane!
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek thy name, O Lord.
17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed for ever;
let them perish in disgrace.
18 Let them know that thou alone,
whose name is the Lord,
art the Most High over all the earth.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.