Obadiah 1

1 THE VISION of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a message from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: 'Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.'

Thus said Lord YHWH to Edom (We have heard a report from YHWH, And an ambassador among nations was sent, “Rise, indeed, let us rise against her for battle”):

2 Behold, I make thee small among the nations; thou art greatly despised.

“Behold, I have made you little among nations, You [are] despised exceedingly.

3 The pride of thy heart hath beguiled thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, thy habitation on high; that sayest in thy heart: 'Who shall bring me down to the ground?'

The pride of your heart has lifted you up, O dweller in clefts of a rock (A high place [is] his habitation, He is saying in his heart: Who brings me down [to] earth?)

4 Though thou make thy nest as high as the eagle, and though thou set it among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.

If you go up high as an eagle, And if you set your nest between stars, From there I bring you down,” A declaration of YHWH.

5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night — how art thou cut off! — would they not steal till they had enough? If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

“If thieves have come in to you, If spoilers of the night, How have you been cut off! Do they not steal their sufficiency? If gatherers have come in to you, Do they not leave gleanings?

6 How is Esau searched out! How are his hidden places sought out!

How has Esau been searched out! His hidden things have flowed out,

7 All the men of thy confederacy have conducted thee to the border; the men that were at peace with thee have beguiled thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee, in whom there is no discernment.

All your allies have sent you to the border, Forgotten you, prevailed over you, have your friends, They make your bread a snare under you, There is no understanding in him!

8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and discernment out of the mount of Esau?

Is it not in that day,” a declaration of YHWH, “That I have destroyed the wise out of Edom, And understanding out of the mountain of Esau?

9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.

And your mighty ones have been broken down, O Teman, So that everyone of the mountain of Esau is cut off.

10 For the violence done to thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.

For slaughter, for violence [to] your brother Jacob, Shame covers you, And you have been cut off for all time.

11 In the day that thou didst stand aloof, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them.

In the day of your standing aloof from the opposite [side], In the day of strangers taking his force captive, And foreigners have entered his gates, And have cast a lot for Jerusalem, Even you [are] as one of them!

12 But thou shouldest not have gazed on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.

And—you do not look on the day of your brother, On the day of his alienation, Nor do you rejoice over sons of Judah, In the day of their destruction, Nor make your mouth great in a day of distress.

13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity.

Nor come into a gate of My people in a day of their calamity, Nor look, even you, on its misfortune in a day of its calamity, Nor send forth against its force in a day of its calamity,

14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.

Nor stand by the breach to cut off its escaped, Nor deliver up its remnant in a day of distress.

15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine own head.

For near [is] the Day of YHWH, on all the nations, As you have done, it is done to you, Your deed turns back on your own head.

16 For as ye have drunk upon My holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and shall be as though they had not been.

For—as you have drunk on My holy mountain, All the nations drink continually, And they have drunk and have swallowed, And they have been as [if] they have not been.

17 But in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

And in Mount Zion there is an escape, And it has been holy, And the house of Jacob has possessed their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken.

And the house of Jacob has been a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame, And the house of Esau for stubble, And they have burned among them, And they have consumed them, And there is not a remnant to the house of Esau,” For YHWH has spoken.

19 And they of the South shall possess the mount of Esau, and they of the Lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

And they have possessed the south with the mountain of Esau, And the low country with the Philistines, And they have possessed the field of Ephraim, And the field of Samaria, And Benjamin with Gilead.

20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, that is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the South.

And the expulsion of this force of the sons of Israel, That [is with] the Canaanites to Zarephat, And the expulsion of Jerusalem that [is] with the Sepharad, Possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.

And saviors have gone up on Mount Zion, To judge the mountain of Esau, And the kingdom has been to YHWH!