Obadja 1 | New International Reader’s Version

Obadiah’s vision

1 This 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.’ 2 The LORD says to Edom, ‘I will make you weak among the nations. They will look down on you. 3 You 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.” 4 You 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! 6 People of Esau, everything will be taken away from you. Your hidden treasures will be stolen. 7 All 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.’ 8 Here 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. 9 People of Teman, your soldiers will be terrified. Everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down by swords. 10 You did harmful things to the people of Jacob. They are your relatives. So you will be covered with shame. You will be destroyed for ever. 11 Outsiders 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. 12 That 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. 13 You 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. 14 You 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. 16 You 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. 17 But 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. 18 They 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. 19 Israelites 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. 20 Some 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. 21 Leaders from Mount Zion will go and rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.

English Standard Version

Edom Will Be Humbled

1 The 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!” 2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised.* 3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock,* in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” 4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. 5 If thieves came to you, if plunderers came by night— how you have been destroyed!— would they not steal only enough for themselves? If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? 6 How Esau has been pillaged, his treasures sought out! 7 All your allies have driven you to your border; those at peace with you have deceived you; they have prevailed against you; those who eat your bread* have set a trap beneath you— you have* no understanding. 8 Will I not on that day, declares the Lord, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount Esau? 9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, O Teman, so that every man from Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

Edom’s Violence Against Jacob

10 Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off forever. 11 On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. 12 But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast* in the day of distress. 13 Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity. 14 Do not stand at the crossroads to cut off his fugitives; do not hand over his survivors in the day of distress.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

15 For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head. 16 For as you have drunk on my holy mountain, so all the nations shall drink continually; they shall drink and swallow, and shall be as though they had never been. 17 But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions. 18 The house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau stubble; they shall burn them and consume them, and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken.

The Kingdom of the Lord

19 Those of the Negeb shall possess Mount Esau, and those of the Shephelah shall possess the land of the Philistines; they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of Samaria, and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. 20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the Negeb. 21 Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion to rule Mount Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Obadja 1 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

Obadiah’s vision

Edom Will Be Humbled

Edom’s Violence Against Jacob

The Day of the Lord Is Near

The Kingdom of the Lord