New King James Version

New Living Translation

The Coming Judgment on Edom

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, saying,
“Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle”):

1

This is the vision that the Sovereign LORD revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom.

2

“Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
You shall be greatly despised.

2

Edom’s Judgment Announced
We have heard a message from the LORD
that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say,
“Get ready, everyone!
Let’s assemble our armies and attack Edom!”

The LORD says to Edom,
“I will cut you down to size among the nations;
you will be greatly despised.

3

The pride of your heart has deceived you,
You who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
Whose habitation is high;
You who say in your heart, ‘Who will bring me down to the ground?’

3

You have been deceived by your own pride
because you live in a rock fortress
and make your home high in the mountains.
‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’
you ask boastfully.

4

Though you ascend as high as the eagle,
And though you set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.

4

But even if you soar as high as eagles
and build your nest among the stars,
I will bring you crashing down,”
says the LORD.

5

“If thieves had come to you,
If robbers by night —
Oh, how you will be cut off! —
Would they not have stolen till they had enough?
If grape-gatherers had come to you,
Would they not have left some gleanings?

5

“If thieves came at night and robbed you
(what a disaster awaits you!),
they would not take everything.
Those who harvest grapes
always leave a few for the poor.
But your enemies will wipe you out completely!

6

“Oh, how Esau shall be searched out!
How his hidden treasures shall be sought after!

6

Every nook and cranny of Edoma
will be searched and looted.
Every treasure will be found and taken.

7

All the men in your confederacy
Shall force you to the border;
The men at peace with you
Shall deceive you and prevail against you.
Those who eat your bread shall lay a [a]trap for you.
No[b] one is aware of it.

7

“All your allies will turn against you.
They will help to chase you from your land.
They will promise you peace
while plotting to deceive and destroy you.
Your trusted friends will set traps for you,
and you won’t even know about it.

8

“Will I not in that day,” says the Lord,
“Even destroy the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?

8

At that time not a single wise person
will be left in the whole land of Edom,”
says the LORD.
“For on the mountains of Edom
I will destroy everyone who has understanding.

9

Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed,
To the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau
May be cut off by slaughter.

9

The mightiest warriors of Teman
will be terrified,
and everyone on the mountains of Edom
will be cut down in the slaughter.
Reasons for Edom’s Punishment

10

Edom Mistreated His Brother

“For violence against your brother Jacob,
Shame shall cover you,
And you shall be cut off forever.

10

“Because of the violence you did
to your close relatives in Israel,b
you will be filled with shame
and destroyed forever.

11

In the day that you stood on the other side —
In the day that strangers carried captive his forces,
When foreigners entered his gates
And cast lots for Jerusalem —
Even you were as one of them.

11

When they were invaded,
you stood aloof, refusing to help them.
Foreign invaders carried off their wealth
and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem,
but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies.

12

“But you should not have gazed[c] on the day of your brother
[d]In the day of his captivity;
Nor should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah
In the day of their destruction;
Nor should you have spoken proudly
In the day of distress.

12

“You should not have gloated
when they exiled your relatives to distant lands.
You should not have rejoiced
when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune.
You should not have spoken arrogantly
in that terrible time of trouble.

13

You should not have entered the gate of My people
In the day of their calamity.
Indeed, you should not have [e]gazed on their affliction
In the day of their calamity,
Nor laid hands on their substance
In the day of their calamity.

13

You should not have plundered the land of Israel
when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have gloated over their destruction
when they were suffering such calamity.
You should not have seized their wealth
when they were suffering such calamity.

14

You should not have stood at the crossroads
To cut off those among them who escaped;
Nor should you have [f]delivered up those among them who remained
In the day of distress.

14

You should not have stood at the crossroads,
killing those who tried to escape.
You should not have captured the survivors
and handed them over in their terrible time of trouble.
Edom Destroyed, Israel Restored

15

“For the day of the Lord upon all the nations is near;
As you have done, it shall be done to you;
Your [g]reprisal shall return upon your own head.

15

“The day is near when I, the LORD,
will judge all godless nations!
As you have done to Israel,
so it will be done to you.
All your evil deeds
will fall back on your own heads.

16

For as you drank on My holy mountain,
So shall all the nations drink continually;
Yes, they shall drink, and swallow,
And they shall be as though they had never been.

16

Just as you swallowed up my people
on my holy mountain,
so you and the surrounding nations
will swallow the punishment I pour out on you.
Yes, all you nations will drink and stagger
and disappear from history.

17

Israel’s Final Triumph

“But on Mount Zion there shall be [h]deliverance,
And there shall be holiness;
The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

17

“But Jerusalemc will become a refuge for those who escape;
it will be a holy place.
And the people of Israeld will come back
to reclaim their inheritance.

18

The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
And the house of Joseph a flame;
But the house of Esau shall be stubble;
They shall kindle them and devour them,
And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau,”
For the Lord has spoken.

18

The people of Israel will be a raging fire,
and Edom a field of dry stubble.
The descendants of Joseph will be a flame
roaring across the field, devouring everything.
There will be no survivors in Edom.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

19

The [i]South shall possess the mountains of Esau,
And the Lowland shall possess Philistia.
They shall possess the fields of Ephraim
And the fields of Samaria.
Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

19

“Then my people living in the Negev
will occupy the mountains of Edom.
Those living in the foothills of Judahe
will possess the Philistine plains
and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria.
And the people of Benjamin
will occupy the land of Gilead.

20

And the captives of this host of the children of Israel
Shall possess the land of the Canaanites
As far as Zarephath.
The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
Shall possess the cities of the [j]South.

20

The exiles of Israel will return to their land
and occupy the Phoenician coast as far north as Zarephath.
The captives from Jerusalem exiled in the northf
will return home and resettle the towns of the Negev.

21

Then saviors[k] shall come to Mount Zion
To judge the mountains of Esau,
And the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

21

Those who have been rescuedg will go up toh Mount Zion in Jerusalem
to rule over the mountains of Edom.
And the LORD himself will be king!”

Parallel

New King James Version

New Living Translation

Obadiah 1

Obadiah 1