The Daily Audio Bible
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1 This is the vision of ‘Ovadyah. Here is what Adonai Elohim says about Edom. As a messenger was being sent among the nations saying, “Come on, let’s attack her,” we heard a message from Adonai:
2 “I am making you the least of all nations,
you will be beneath contempt.
3 Your proud heart has deceived you,
you whose homes are caves in the cliffs,
who live on the heights and say to yourselves,
‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
4 If you make your nest as high as an eagle’s,
even if you place it among the stars,
I will bring you down from there.” says Adonai.
5 If thieves were to come to you,
or if robbers by night
(Oh, how destroyed you are!),
wouldn’t they stop when they’d stolen enough?
If grape-pickers came to you,
Wouldn’t they leave some grapes for gleaning?
6 But see how ‘Esav has been looted,
their secret treasures searched out!
7 Your allies went with you only to the border,
those at peace with you deceived and defeated you,
those who ate your food set a trap for you,
and you couldn’t discern it.
8 “When that Day comes,” says Adonai,
“won’t I destroy all the wise men of Edom
and leave no discernment on Mount ‘Esav?
9 Your warriors, Teman, will be so distraught
that everyone on Mount ‘Esav will be slaughtered.
10 For the violence done to your kinsman Ya‘akov,
shame will cover you;
and you will be forever cut off.
11 On that day you stood aside,
while strangers carried off his treasure,
and foreigners entered his gates
to cast lots for Yerushalayim —
you were no different from them.
12 You shouldn’t have gloated over your kinsman
on their day of disaster
or rejoiced over the people of Y’hudah
on their day of destruction.
You shouldn’t have spoken arrogantly
on a day of trouble
13 or entered the gate of my people
on their day of calamity —
no, you shouldn’t have gloated over their suffering
on their day of calamity
or laid hands on their treasure
on their day of calamity.
14 You shouldn’t have stood at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives
or handed over their survivors
on a day of trouble.”
15 For the Day of Adonai is near for all nations;
as you did, it will be done to you;
your dealings will come back on your own head.
16 For just as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so will all the nations drink in turn;
yes, they will drink and gulp it down
and be as if they had never existed.
17 But on Mount Tziyon there will be
a holy remnant who will escape,
and the house of Ya‘akov will repossess
their rightful inheritance.
18 The house of Ya‘akov will be a fire
and the house of Yosef a flame,
setting aflame and consuming
the stubble which is the house of ‘Esav.
None of the house of ‘Esav will remain,
for Adonai has spoken.
19 Those in the Negev will repossess
the mountain of ‘Esav,
and those in the Sh’felah
the land of the P’lishtim;
they will repossess the field of Efrayim
and the field of Shomron,
and Binyamin will occupy Gil‘ad.
20 Those from this army of the people of Isra’el
exiled among the Kena‘anim as far away as Tzarfat,
and the exiles from Yerushalayim in S’farad,
will repossess the cities in the Negev.
21 Then the victorious will ascend Mount Tziyon
to rule over Mount ‘Esav,
but the kingship will belong to Adonai.
4 After these things, I looked; and there before me was a door standing open in heaven; and the voice like a trumpet which I had heard speaking with me before said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Instantly I was in the Spirit, and there before me in heaven stood a throne, and on the throne Someone was sitting. 3 The One sitting there gleamed like diamonds and rubies, and a rainbow shining like emerald encircled the throne.
4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing and wearing gold crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came forth lightnings, voices and thunderings; and before the throne were seven flaming torches, which are the sevenfold Spirit of God. 6 In front of the throne was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living beings covered with eyes in front and behind. 7 The first living being was like a lion, the second living being was like an ox, the third living being had a face that looked human, and the fourth living being was like a flying eagle.[a] 8 Each of the four living beings had six wings[b] and was covered with eyes inside and out; and day and night they never stop saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is Adonai, God of heaven’s armies[c]
the One who was, who is and who is coming!”
9 And whenever the living beings give glory, honor and thanks to the One sitting on the throne, to the One who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the One sitting on the throne, who lives forever and ever, and worship him. They throw their crowns in front of the throne and say,
11 “You are worthy, Adonai Eloheinu,
to have glory, honor and power,
because you created all things —
yes, because of your will they were created
and came into being!”
132 (0) A song of ascents:
(1) Adonai, remember in David’s favor
all the hardships he endured,
2 how he swore to Adonai,
vowed to the Mighty One of Ya‘akov,
3 “I will not enter the house where I live
or get into my bed,
4 I will not allow myself to sleep
or even close my eyes,
5 until I find a place for Adonai,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Ya‘akov.”
6 We heard about it in Efrat,
we found it in the Fields of Ya‘ar.
7 Let’s go into his dwelling
and prostrate ourselves at his footstool.
8 Go up, Adonai, to your resting-place,
you and the ark through which you give strength.
9 May your cohanim be clothed with righteousness;
may those loyal to you shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 Adonai swore an oath to David,
an oath he will not break:
“One of the sons from your own body
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my instruction, which I will teach them,
then their descendants too, forever,
will sit on your throne.”
13 For Adonai has chosen Tziyon,
he has wanted it as his home.
14 “This is my resting-place forever,
I will live here because I so much want to.
15 I will bless it with plenty of meat,
I will give its poor their fill of food.
16 Its cohanim I will clothe with salvation,
and its faithful will shout for joy.
17 I will make a king sprout there from David’s line
and prepare a lamp for my anointed one.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him there will be a shining crown.”
24 The accomplice of a thief hates himself;
he hears himself put under oath but discloses nothing.
25 Fearing human beings is a snare;
but he who trusts in Adonai will be raised high [above danger].
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.