Obadiah’s vision
1The vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Sovereign Lord says about Edom –
We have heard a message from the Lord:
an envoy was sent to the nations to say,
‘Rise, let us go against her for battle’ –
2‘See, I will make you small among the nations;
you will be utterly despised.
3The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks1:3 Or of Sela
and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself,
“Who can bring me down to the ground?”
4Though you soar like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,’
declares the Lord.
5‘If thieves came to you,
if robbers in the night –
oh, what a disaster awaits you! –
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?
6But how Esau will be ransacked,
his hidden treasures pillaged!
7All your allies will force you to the border;
your friends will deceive and overpower you;
those who eat your bread will set a trap for you,1:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
but you will not detect it.
8‘In that day,’ declares the Lord,
‘will I not destroy the wise men of Edom,
those of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified,
and everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter.
10Because of the violence against your brother Jacob,
you will be covered with shame;
you will be destroyed for ever.
11On the day you stood aloof
while strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12You should not gloat over your brother
in the day of his misfortune,
nor rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much
in the day of their trouble.
13You should not march through the gates of my people
in the day of their disaster,
nor gloat over them in their calamity
in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth
in the day of their disaster.
14You should not wait at the crossroads
to cut down their fugitives,
nor hand over their survivors
in the day of their trouble.
15‘The day of the Lord is near
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds will return upon your own head.
16Just as you drank on my holy hill,
so all the nations will drink continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.
17But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;
it will be holy,
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
18Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire and destroy him.
There will be no survivors
from Esau.’
The Lord has spoken.
19People from the Negev will occupy
the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.
21Deliverers will go up on1:21 Or from Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.
Obadiah’s Vision
1This is the vision about Edom that Obadiah had.
Here is what the Lord and King says about Edom.
We’ve heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger was sent to the nations.
The Lord told him to say,
“Get up! Let us go and make war against Edom.”
2The Lord says to Edom,
“I will make you weak among the nations.
They will look down on you.
3You live in the safety of the rocks.
You make your home high up in the mountains.
But your proud heart has tricked you.
So you say to yourself,
‘No one can bring me down to the ground.’
4You have built your home as high as an eagle does.
You have made your nest among the stars.
But I will bring you down from there,”
announces the Lord.
5“Edom, suppose robbers came to you at night.
They would steal only as much as they wanted.
Suppose grape pickers came to harvest your vines.
They would still leave a few grapes.
But you are facing horrible trouble!
6People of Esau, everything will be taken away from you.
Your hidden treasures will be stolen.
7All those who are helping you
will force you to leave your country.
Your friends will trick you and overpower you.
Those who eat bread with you
will set a trap for you.
But you will not see it.”
8Here is what the Lord announces. “At that time
I will destroy the wise men of Edom.
I will wipe out the men of understanding
in the mountains of Esau.
9People of Teman, your soldiers will be terrified.
Everyone in Esau’s mountains
will be cut down by swords.
10You did harmful things to the people of Jacob.
They are your relatives.
So you will be covered with shame.
You will be destroyed forever.
11Outsiders entered the gates of Jerusalem.
They cast lots to see what each one would get.
Strangers carried off its wealth.
When that happened, you just stood there and did nothing.
You were like one of them.
12That was a time of trouble for your relatives.
So you shouldn’t have been happy about what happened to them.
The people of Judah were destroyed.
So you should not have been happy about it.
You should not have laughed at them so much
when they were in trouble.
13You should not have marched
through the gates of my people’s city
when they were in trouble.
You shouldn’t have been happy about what happened to them.
You should not have stolen their wealth
when they were in trouble.
14You waited where the roads cross.
You wanted to cut down those who were running away.
You should not have done that.
You handed over to their enemies
those who were still left alive.
You should not have done that.
They were in trouble.
15“The day of the Lord is near
for all the nations.
Others will do to you
what you have done to them.
You will be paid back
for what you have done.
16You Edomites made my holy mountain of Zion impure
by drinking and celebrating there.
So all the nations will drink
from the cup of my anger.
And they will keep on drinking from it.
They will vanish.
It will be as if they had never existed.
17But on Mount Zion some of my people will be left alive.
I will save them.
Zion will be my holy mountain once again.
And the people of Jacob
will again receive the land as their own.
18They will be like a fire.
Joseph’s people will be like a flame.
The nation of Edom will be like straw.
Jacob’s people will set Edom on fire and burn it up.
No one will be left alive
among Esau’s people.”
The Lord has spoken.
19Israelites from the Negev Desert
will take over Esau’s mountains.
Israelites from the western hills
will possess the land of the Philistines.
They’ll take over the territories
of Ephraim and Samaria.
Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin
will possess the land of Gilead.
20Some Israelites were forced to leave their homes.
They’ll come back to Canaan and possess
it all the way to the town of Zarephath.
Some people from Jerusalem were taken
to the city of Sepharad.
They’ll return and possess
the towns of the Negev Desert.
21Leaders from Mount Zion will go
and rule over the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.
