Obadiah 1–14

The Lord Will Punish the Edomites

¹This is the vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Lord God says about Edom: ⁿ

We have heard a message from the Lord.

A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,

“Attack! Let’s go attack Edom!”

The Lord Speaks to the Edomites

²“Soon I will make you the smallest of nations.

You will be greatly hated by everyone.

³Your pride has fooled you,

you who live in the hollow places of the cliff.

Your home is up high,

you who say to yourself,

‘No one can bring me down to the ground.’

⁴Even if you fly high like the eagle

and make your nest among the stars,

I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

⁵“You will really be ruined!

If thieves came to you,

if robbers came by night,

they would steal only enough for themselves.

If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,

they would leave a few behind.

⁶But you, Edom, will really lose everything!

People will find all your hidden treasures!

⁷All the people who are your friends

will force you out of the land.

The people who are at peace with you

will trick you and defeat you.

Those who eat your bread with you now

are planning a trap for you,

and you will not notice it.”

⁸The Lord says, “On that day

I will surely destroy the wise people from Edom,

and those with understanding from the mountains of Edom.

⁹Then, city of Teman, your best warriors will be afraid,

and everyone from the mountains of Edom will be killed.

¹⁰You did violence to your relatives, the Israelites,

so you will be covered with shame

and destroyed forever.

¹¹You stood aside without helping

while strangers carried Israel’s treasures away.

When foreigners entered Israel’s city gate

and threw lots to decide what part of Jerusalem they would take,

you were like one of them.

Commands That Edom Broke

¹²“Edom, do not laugh at your brother Israel in his time of trouble

or be happy about the people of Judah when they are destroyed.

Do not brag when cruel things are done to them.

¹³Do not enter the city gate of my people

in their time of trouble

or laugh at their problems

in their time of trouble.

Do not take their treasures

in their time of trouble.

¹⁴Do not stand at the crossroads

to destroy those who are trying to escape.

Do not capture those who escape alive and turn them over to their enemy

in their time of trouble.