Chronological
Edom Will Be Punished
1 This is the vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord God says about Edom:
We heard a report from the Lord.
A messenger was sent to the nations.
He said, “Let’s go fight against Edom.”
The Lord Speaks to Edom
2 “Edom, I will make you the smallest nation.
Everyone will hate you very much.
3 Your pride has fooled you.
You live in those caves high on the cliff.
Your home is high in the hills.
So you say to yourself,
‘No one can bring me to the ground.’”
Edom Will Be Brought Low
4 This is what the Lord says:
“Even though you fly high like the eagle
and put your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there.
5 You really will be ruined!
Thieves will come to you.
Robbers will come in the night,
and they will take all they want.
When workers gather grapes in your vineyards,
they will leave a few grapes behind.
6 But the enemy will search hard for Esau’s hidden treasures,
and they will find them all.
7 All those who are your friends
will force you out of the land.
Those who were at peace with you will trick you,
and they will defeat you.
The soldiers who fought by your side
are planning a trap for you.
They say, ‘He doesn’t expect a thing!’”
8 The Lord says, “On that day
I will destroy the wise people from Edom.
I will destroy the intelligent people from the mountain of Esau.[a]
9 Teman, your brave soldiers will be afraid.
Everyone will be destroyed from the mountain of Esau.
Many people will be killed.
10 You will be covered with shame
because you were very cruel to your brother Jacob.
So you will be destroyed completely.
11 You joined the enemies of Israel.
Strangers carried Israel’s treasures away.
Foreigners entered Israel’s city gate.
They threw lots to decide what part of Jerusalem they would get.
And you were right there with them, waiting to get your share.
12 You should not have laughed[b]
at your brother’s trouble.
You should not have been happy
when they destroyed Judah.
You should not have bragged[c]
at the time of their trouble.
13 You should not have entered the city gate of my people
and laughed at their problems.
You should not have taken their treasures
in the time of their trouble.
14 You should not have stood where the roads cross
and destroyed those who were trying to escape.
You should not have captured those who escaped alive.
15 The Day of the Lord is coming soon
to all the nations.
And the evil you did to others will happen to you.
The same bad things will fall down on your own head.
16 You spilled[d] blood on my holy mountain,[e]
so other nations will spill your blood.[f]
You will be finished.
It will be as if you never existed.
17 But there will be survivors on Mount Zion.
They will be my special people.
The nation of Jacob[g] will take back
what belongs to it.
18 The family of Jacob will be like a fire.
The nation of Joseph will be like a flame.
But the nation of Esau[h] will be like ashes.
The people of Judah will burn Edom,
and they will destroy it.
Then there will be no survivors in the nation of Esau.”
This will happen because the Lord said it would.
19 Then people from the Negev will live on the mountain of Esau.
And people from the foothills will take the Philistine lands.
They will live in the land of Ephraim and Samaria.
Gilead will belong to Benjamin.
20 People from Israel were forced to leave their homes,
but they will take back the land of Canaan, all the way to Zarephath.
People from Judah were forced to leave Jerusalem and live in Sepharad.[i]
But they will take back the cities of the Negev.
21 The winners[j] will go up on Mount Zion
to rule the people who live on Esau’s mountain.
And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.
One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
82 God stands in the assembly of the gods.[a]
He stands as judge among the judges.
2 He says, “How long will you judge unfairly
and show special favors to the wicked?” Selah
3 “Defend the poor and orphans.
Protect the rights of the poor.
4 Help those who are poor and helpless.
Save them from those who are evil.
5 “They[b] don’t know what is happening.
They don’t understand!
They don’t know what they are doing.
Their world is falling down around them!”
6 I, God Most High, say,
“You are gods,[c] my own sons.
7 But you will die as all people must die.
Your life will end like that of any ruler.”
8 Get up, God! You be the judge!
You be the leader over all the nations!
One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
83 God, don’t keep quiet!
Don’t close your ears!
Please say something, God.
2 Your enemies are getting ready to do something.
Those who hate you will soon attack.
3 They are making secret plans against your people.
Your enemies are discussing plans against the people you love.
4 They say, “Come, let us destroy them completely.
Then no one will ever again remember the name Israel.”
5 God, they have all joined together.
They have united against you.
6-7 Their army includes the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moabites, and Hagar’s descendants,
the people of Byblos, Ammon, and Amalek,
the Philistines, and the people of Tyre.
8 Even the Assyrians have joined them.
They have made Lot’s descendants very powerful. Selah
9 God, defeat them just as you defeated Midian.
Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 You destroyed the enemy at Endor,
and their bodies rotted on the ground.
11 Punish their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb.
Do what you did to Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s make this land our own—
these fields of grass that belong to God!”
13 Make them like weeds blown by the wind.
Scatter them the way wind scatters straw.
14 Be like a fire that destroys a forest
or like a flame that sets the hills on fire.
15 Chase them away with your blasts of wind;
frighten them with your storms.
16 Lord, cover them with shame
until they come to you for help.
17 May they be forever ashamed and afraid.
Disgrace and defeat them.
18 Then they will know that your name is Yahweh—
that you alone are the Lord.
They will know that you are God Most High,
ruler over all the earth!
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International