Obadja 18 | New International Version

Obadiah’s vision

1 The 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.

3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks* and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, “Who can bring me down to the ground?”

4 Though 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?

6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!

7 All 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,* 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?

9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.

10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed for ever.

11 On 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.

12 You 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.

13 You 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.

14 You 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.

16 Just 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.

17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.

18 Jacob 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.

19 People 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.

20 This 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.

21 Deliverers will go up on* Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.

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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.

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