Obadiah 1

It was the time when the nations

sent messages to each other.

They said: ‘You must prepare.

We must go to war_against the Edomites.’

₂The Lord said to the people of Edom:

‘I will make you a small nation,

and everyone will think you are worthless.

₃You thought you were safe,

but you were wrong.

You live high up in the mountains

between the rocks

and you think no one can bring you down.

₄But I will bring you down,

even if you fly higher than an eagle

and you make your home among the stars.

₅When thieves come at night

to steal things from your houses,

they take only what they want to have,

until they have enough and then they stop.

When people come to pick your grapes,

they do not take everything.

They leave some of the grapes.

But your enemies will take everything.

They will not leave anything.

₆People of Esau,

your enemies will find everything that you have hidden.

They will get it all.

₇They will chase you away from your land.

Your friends have made an agreement with you,

but they will wait for you and attack you.

You have given them food,

but they will deceive you

when you won't think it will happen.’

₈The Lord also said:

‘The people in the land of Edom

in the Esau Mountains think they are very clever,

but on that day I will kill them all.

₉People of the town of Teman,

your soldiers will be too afraid to fight.

The enemies will kill all of you on the Esau Mountains.

You have killed a lot of people.

₁₀You were cruel

to the descendants of Jacob, your father's brother.

That is why you will also suffer,

and your enemies will kill you.’

₁₁‘People from another land

came to make war_against Jerusalem.

They took away everything

and they drew_lots to see

what everyone would get from the city.

And you stood and looked and did not help.

You were like one of the enemies.

₁₂The people of Jerusalem were your family.

You did wrong when you

just stood there and looked at how they suffered.

You were pleased when the enemies

killed the people of Judah.

You stood and laughed when they suffered.

₁₃After the enemies defeated my people,

you went into their city

and you took what was left over.

You stood and looked at how they suffered.

₁₄You were standing and waiting to kill

the people of Judah when they ran away.

You gave the people who were still_alive

to the enemies,

on that day when they had so much trouble.

You did wrong,

and you should not have done that.

₁₅The day is near when the Lord

will punish all the other nations.

Then other people will do to you

what you have done to the people of Judah.

You Edomites, you will know how it feels

when they do the same to you.’

₁₆‘The people of Judah had to drink

the cup_of_suffering on my holy_mountain.

Soon the other nations will also have to drink it.

They will drink and drink until they all disappear.

₁₇But on Mount_Zion all will be well again,

and it will be holy again.

The descendants of Jacob will take back

their land that belonged to them.

₁₈The descendants of Jacob will be like a fire.

The descendants of Joseph will be like flames of fire,

and you, descendants of Esau,

you will be like chaff that is burning.

There will be nothing left.

₁₉The people of Judah will take the Negev

and the Esau Mountains for themselves,

and the lowlands where the Philistines live,

and also the land where the people of Ephraim lived

and where the city of Samaria was.

The people of the land of Benjamin

will take the land of Gilead for themselves.

₂₀The enemies have caught some of the Israelites

and have taken them away to other lands.

But the Israelites will now take the land

where the Canaanites live,

up to the town of Zarephath.

The enemies caught

some of the people of Jerusalem

and took them to the town of Sepharad.

Those people will now

take the towns in the Negev for themselves.

₂₁The people who have freed Mount_Zion

will rule over the Esau Mountains

and the Lord Himself will be King.’