Obadiah 1–14

¹This is the vision about Edom that Obadiah had. Here is what he said.

We’ve heard a message from the Lord and King.

A messenger was sent to the nations.

The Lord told him to say,

“Get up! Let us go and make war against Edom.”

²The Lord says to Edom,

“I will make you weak among the nations.

They will look down on you.

³You 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.’

⁴You 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!

⁶People of Esau, everything will be taken away from you.

Your hidden treasures will be stolen.

⁷All 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.”

⁸The 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.

⁹People of Teman, your soldiers will be terrified.

Everyone in Esau’s mountains

will be cut down with swords.

¹⁰You did harmful things to your brothers,

the people of Jacob.

So you will be covered with shame.

You will be destroyed forever.

¹¹Strangers entered the gates of Jerusalem.

They cast lots to see what each one would get.

They carried off its wealth.

When that happened, you just stood there and did nothing.

You were like one of them.

¹²That was a time of trouble for your brothers.

So you should not have looked down on 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.

¹³You should not have marched

through the gates of my people’s city

when they were having so much trouble.

You should not have looked down on them.

You should not have stolen their wealth.

¹⁴You 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.