Old/New Testament
The Lord Will Punish the Edomites
1 This is the vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Lord God says about Edom [C the Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother (Gen. 25); they were often in conflict with Israel]:
We have heard a ·message [report] from the Lord.
A ·messenger [envoy] has been sent among the nations, saying,
“·Attack [L Rise up]! Let’s go ·attack [L rise to battle against] Edom!”
The Lord Speaks to the Edomites
2 “·Soon [L Look; T Behold] I will make you ·the smallest of [or weak among the] nations.
You will be greatly ·hated [despised] by everyone.
3 Your pride has ·fooled [deceived] you,
you who live in the ·hollow places of the cliff [T clefts of the rock].
Your home is ·up high [on the heights],
you who say to yourself,
‘·No one can [L Who can…?] bring me down to the ground.’
4 Even if you ·fly high [soar] like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
5 “You will really be ·ruined [L cut off]!
If thieves came to you,
if ·robbers [plunderers] came by night,
they would steal only enough for themselves.
If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,
they would leave ·a few behind [some for the poor; the gleanings].
6 But you, Edom, will ·really lose everything [be cleaned/L searched out]!
People will find all your hidden treasures!
7 All ·the people who are your friends [your allies; L the people of your covenant/treaty]
will force you ·out of the land [L to the border].
The people ·who are at peace with you [or who promised you peace; L of your peace]
will ·trick [deceive] you and ·defeat [overpower] you.
Those who eat your bread [C indicating fellowship and friendship] with you now
are planning a trap for you,
and you will ·not notice it [be taken by surprise; have no understanding].”
8 The Lord says, “On that day
I will surely destroy the wise people from Edom,
and those with understanding from the mountains of Edom.
9 Then, city of Teman, your ·best warriors [mighty men] will be ·afraid [dismayed],
and everyone from the mountains of Edom will be ·killed [L cut down in the slaughter].
10 You did violence to your ·relatives, the Israelites [L brother Jacob; verse 1; Gen. 25],
so you will be covered with shame
and destroyed forever.
11 You stood ·aside without helping [aloof]
·while [L on the day] strangers carried Israel’s ·treasures [wealth; or army] away.
When foreigners entered Israel’s city gate
and threw lots to decide ·what part of Jerusalem they would take [L for Jerusalem],
you were like one of them.
Commands That Edom Broke
12 “Edom, ·do not laugh at [or you should not have gloated over] your ·brother Israel [L brother] in his time of ·trouble [misfortune]
or ·be happy [rejoice] about the ·people [sons; descendants] of Judah ·when they are destroyed [L on the day of destruction].
Do not ·brag [boast; act with arrogance] ·when cruel things are done to them [L on the day of distress].
13 Do not enter the city gate of my people [C to plunder their goods]
in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [disaster; C the Hebrew word for “trouble” sounds like Edom]
or ·laugh at their problems [gloat over them]
in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [disaster].
Do not ·take their treasures [loot their wealth]
in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [disaster].
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to ·destroy [L cut off] ·those who are trying to escape [their fugitives].
Do not capture ·those who escape alive [their survivors] and turn them over to their enemy
in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [adversity].
The Nations Will Be Judged
15 “The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] is ·coming soon [near]
to all the nations.
·The same evil things you did to other people [L As you have done]
·will happen [L it will be done] to you;
·they [L recompense; reprisal] will come back upon your own head.
16 Because you drank in my ·Temple [L holy mountain],
all the nations will drink ·on and on [continually].
They will drink and ·drink [L swallow]
·until they disappear [L and be as though they were not].
17 But on Mount Zion ·some will escape the judgment [L there will be escape],
and it will be a holy place.
The ·people [L house] of Jacob will ·take back their land
from those who ·took it from them [L possess their possessions].
18 The ·people [L house] of Jacob will be like a fire
and the ·people [L house] of Joseph [C the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons, Jacob’s grandsons), representing the northern kingdom] like a flame.
But the ·people [L house] of Esau [C the Edomites] will be like ·dry stalks [stubble].
The ·people [L house] of Jacob will set them on fire and burn them up.
There will be no ·one left [survivors] of the ·people [L house] of Esau.”
·This will happen because [L For] the Lord has said it.
19 ·Then God’s people will regain southern Judah from Edom;
they will take back [L The Negev shall possess] the mountains of ·Edom [L Esau].
·They will take back the western hills
from [L The Shephelah/foothills shall possess] the Philistines.
They will ·regain [possess] the ·lands [L fields] of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will ·take over [possess] Gilead [C east of the Jordan River].
20 ·People from [L This host of the sons/T children of] Israel who once were ·forced to leave their homes [exiled]
will take the land of the Canaanites,
all the way to Zarephath [C in Phoenicia in the far northeast].
·People from Judah who once were forced to leave Jerusalem and [L The exiles of Jerusalem who] live in Sepharad [C unknown location, perhaps Sardis (in present-day Turkey)]
will take back the cities of ·southern Judah [L the Negev].
21 ·Powerful warriors [Deliverers; Saviors; or Those who have been rescued/delivered] will go up on Mount Zion,
where they will rule ·the people living on Edom’s mountains [L Mount Esau].
And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.
9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fall from ·the sky [or heaven] to the earth. The star was given the key to the ·deep hole [shaft] ·that leads to the bottomless pit [L of the Abyss; C the place of the dead and/or a prison for fallen angels; Luke 8:31; Rom. 10:7]. 2 Then ·it [or he] opened up the ·hole that leads to the bottomless pit [shaft of the Abyss], and smoke came up from the ·hole [shaft] like smoke from a ·big [great; giant] furnace. Then the sun and ·sky [air] became dark because of the smoke from the ·hole [shaft]. 3 Then locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke [C similar to the eighth Egyptian plague; Ex. 10:1–20; see also Joel 1:2—2:10], and they were given the power ·to sting like [L like the power of] scorpions [L of the earth]. 4 They were told not to ·harm [damage] the grass on the earth or any ·plant [greenery] or tree. They could ·harm [damage] only the people who did not have the ·sign [seal] of God on their foreheads [7:3]. 5 These locusts were not ·given the power [permitted] to kill anyone, but to ·cause pain to [torture; torment] the people for five months [C perhaps referring to the limited life span of a locust]. And ·the pain they felt was like the pain a scorpion gives [L their torture/torment was like the torture/torment of a scorpion] when it stings someone. 6 During those days people will ·look for a way to die [L seek death], but they will not find it. They will ·want [long; desire] to die, but death will ·run away [flee] from them.
7 The locusts looked like horses ·prepared [equipped; trained] for battle [Joel 2:4]. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold [C indicating their victory; 2:10], and their faces looked like human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth [Joel 1:6]. 9 Their chests looked like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horses and chariots ·hurrying [charging; running] into battle [Joel 2:5]. 10 The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails was their ·power [authority] to ·hurt [damage; harm] people for five months. 11 The locusts had a king who was the ·angel [or messenger] of the ·bottomless pit [L Abyss; 9:1]. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon and in the Greek language is Apollyon [C both mean “Destroyer”; perhaps a reference to Satan].
12 The first ·trouble [L woe] is past; there are still two other ·troubles [L woes] that will come [8:13].
13 Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns [C some ancient manuscripts specify that there are four horns; protrusions on the four corners of the altar symbolizing God’s strength] on the golden altar [C the incense altar; Ex. 30:1–10] that is before God. 14 The voice said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “·Free [Release] the four angels who are ·tied [bound] at the great river Euphrates [7:1].” 15 And they ·let loose [released] the four angels who had been ·kept ready [prepared] for this hour and day and month and year so they could kill a third of ·all people on the earth [L humanity; mankind]. 16 I heard how many troops on horses were in their army—two hundred million.
17 The horses and their riders I saw in the vision looked like this: They had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue [L hyacinth-colored], and yellow like sulfur [brimstone]. The heads of the horses looked like heads of lions, with fire, smoke, and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 18 A third of ·all the people on earth [humanity; mankind] were killed by these three ·terrible disasters [plagues] coming out of the horses’ mouths: the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur. 19 The horses’ ·power [authority] was in their mouths and in their tails; their tails were like snakes with heads [12:9; Gen. 3:1–7], and with them they ·hurt [damaged; injured; wounded] people.
20 The ·other [rest of the] people who were not killed by these ·terrible disasters [plagues] still did not ·change their hearts and turn away from what they had made with their own hands [L repent from the works of their hands]. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—things that cannot see or hear or walk [Ps. 115:4–7; 135:17; Jer. 10:1–16]. 21 These people did not ·change their hearts and turn away from [repent of] murder or ·evil magic [sorcery], from their ·sexual sins [fornication] or stealing.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.