Ezekiel 35

1 MOREOVER the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

“Son of man, face towards Mount Seir and prophesy against it

3 And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.

Announce that this is what the Lord God says: Watch out, because I'm condemning you, Mount Seir. I'm going to attack you and turn you into a wasteland.

4 I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

I will ruin your towns; you will be completely devastated. Then you will acknowledge that I am the Lord.

5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:

Because of your lasting hatred for the Israelites you let them be attacked with swords as they went through terrible disasters when the time of their punishment was coming to an end.

6 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

So as I live, declares the Lord God, I will let you be violently attacked and chased down. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will come after you.

7 Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.

I will turn Mount Seir into a ruined wasteland. I will wipe out anyone who leaves or who tries to return.

8 And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.

I will fill its mountains with the dead. Those killed by the sword will fall in your hills, valleys, and all your ravines.

9 I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

I will ruin you forever. Your towns will not be inhabited again. Then you will acknowledge that I am the Lord.

10 Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there:

Because you said, ‘These two nations and their lands belong to us, and we will take them over, even though the Lord was there with them,’

11 Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

then as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you in the same way that you showed anger and jealousy to them in your hatred of them. They will realize that I'm punishing you because of the way you treated them.

12 And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.

You will also realize that I, the Lord, heard all the nasty things you said about the mountainous land of Israel when you announced, ‘The mountains have been left empty; they're ours to take!’

13 Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.

You made a lot of boasts attacking me—you had much to say against me. I heard it for myself!

14 Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.

This is what the Lord God says: I will destroy you as everyone else in the world celebrates.

15 As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Just as you celebrated when Israel was destroyed, I will do the same to you. Mount Seir, you will become a wasteland, and so will the rest of Edom. Then they will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”