Obadiah 1

The Vision of Obadiah

1The vision of Obadiah.

Thus says the Lord GOD concerning Edom:

We have heard a report from the LORD,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:

“Rise up!
Let us rise against her for battle!” 2Look, I have made you small among the nations;
you are greatly despised. 3The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
in your lofty dwelling,
who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?” 4Though you soar high like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
says the LORD.

Edom Will Be Searched Out

5If thieves came to you,
if robbers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only what they wanted?

If grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings? 6How Esau has been searched out!
How his hidden treasures
have been sought out! 7All your allies
have driven you to the border;
those at peace with you
have deceived you and prevailed against you.

Those who eat your bread
have set a trap beneath you.
There is no understanding in him.

Wisdom and Strength Will Fail

8On that day,
says the LORD,
will I not destroy the wise from Edom
and understanding from Mount Esau? 9Your warriors will be terrified, O Teman,
so that everyone from Mount Esau
will be cut off by slaughter.

Violence Against Jacob

10Because of violence
against your brother Jacob,
shame will cover you,
and you will be cut off forever. 11On the day when you stood aloof,
on the day when strangers carried away his wealth,
when foreigners entered his gates
and cast lots over Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.

12Do not look with pleasure
on the day of your brother,
on the day of his misfortune.

Do not rejoice over the children of Judah
on the day of their destruction.

Do not boast
on the day of distress. 13Do not enter the gate of my people
on the day of their disaster.

Do not look with pleasure on their calamity
on the day of their disaster.

Do not reach for their wealth
on the day of their disaster. 14Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut down those who escape.

Do not hand over the survivors
on the day of distress.

The Day of the LORD Is Near

15For the day of the LORD is near
upon all the nations.

As you have done,
it will be done to you;
your deeds will return
upon your own head. 16For just as you drank
on my holy mountain,
so all the nations
will drink continually.

They will drink and swallow
and become
as though they had never been.

Deliverance on Mount Zion

17But on Mount Zion
there will be those who escape,
and it will be holy.

The house of Jacob
will possess its possessions. 18The house of Jacob will be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
but the house of Esau will be stubble.

They will burn among them
and consume them,
and there will be no survivor
of the house of Esau,
for the LORD has spoken.

The Land Will Be Restored

19Those of the Negev
will possess Mount Esau,
and those of the foothills
the land of the Philistines.

They will possess
the territory of Ephraim
and the territory of Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead. 20The exiles of this host
of the children of Israel
will possess the land of the Canaanites
as far as Zarephath;

and the exiles of Jerusalem
who are in Sepharad
will possess the cities of the Negev. 21Deliverers will go up to Mount Zion
to judge Mount Esau,
and the kingdom
will belong to the LORD.