Obadiah Chapter 1
1The Vision of Obadiah
Edom’s Judgment Foretold
The Lord GOD says this about Edom;
we’ve heard the report;
an ambassador has gone out to the nations to say:
“To arms, attack Edom.”
2“I’ll make you a minor player among the nations
and utterly despised.
3Your arrogance has deceived you,
you that live high in caves
and tell yourselves that nobody can bring you down.
4Though you’ve built high like an eagle
and put your nest among the stars,
I’ll bring you down. Obad 1-4
5“If thieves came to you at night—
what disaster awaits you!—
wouldn’t they steal only till they had enough?
If grape pickers came,
wouldn’t they leave some gleanings?
6But how you’ll be pillaged, Esau,
and your hidden treasures found!
7Your allies will drive you out of your borders;
the people at peace with you
will turn on you and overpower you;
the ones you eat with
will set up an ambush for you.
(You won’t suspect it.)
8At that time,” the LORD says, “won’t I destroy
the wise men out of Edom
and those with understanding from Esau’s mountain?
9Your strong troops will be afraid, Teman;
so everybody from Esau’s mountains
will be cut down in the slaughter. Obad 5-9
Edom’s Violence Against Israel
10 “Because of your violence against Jacob your brother,
you’ll be covered with disgrace and permanently eliminated.
11You stood aloof
while foreigners cast lots for Jerusalem
and strangers entered its gates
to carry off its wealth.
You even joined them.
12You shouldn’t have gloated over your brother’s misfortune;
you shouldn’t have celebrated over Judah’s destruction
or boasted about his distress.
13You shouldn’t have entered my people’s gate
at the time of their disaster
or looted their goods during their catastrophe.
14You shouldn’t have stood at the fork in the road
to cut down their refugees
or have betrayed the survivors in their misfortune. Obad 10-14
Edom’s Destruction, Israel’s Restoration
15“The LORD’s judgment is coming on all the nations.
What you’ve done to Israel will be done to you;
your dealings will come back on your own head.
16You and those nations will drink the same punishment
you swallowed on my holy mountain.
You’ll all drink till you drown.
17But on Mount Zion some will escape,
and it’ll be holy;
Jacob’s house will return to reclaim its possession.
18Then Jacob’s house will become a fire,
Joseph’s house a flame,
Esau’s house the stubble.
They’ll set him on fire and burn him up;
there’ll be no survivors in Edom.”
The LORD has said it. Obad 15-18
19 Then my people in the Negev will take over Esau’s mountains;
the ones in the western foothills will occupy the Philistine plain.
They’ll take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria;
The people of Benjamin will occupy Gilead.
20 Exiles from Israel
will replace the Phoenicians as far north as Zarephath;
the captives from Jerusalem that are in Sepharad [north]
will resettle their towns in the Negev [south].
21 All those who were rescuedLXX will go up to Mount Zion
and extend its dominion over Esau’s mountains.
The kingdom will belong to the LORD. Obad 19-21
Version by Virgil Warren: christir.org