Obadiah 1
1 The vision of 'Obadiah: Thus hath said the Lord Eternal concerning Edom, A rumor have we heard from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the nations, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her to war.
This is a message that Yahweh our God gave to me, Obadiah, about the Edom [people-group]. Yahweh our God has told me this about [the people of] Edom: “I, Yahweh, have sent a messenger to other nations, telling them to prepare to go and attack Edom.”
2 Behold, I make thee small among the nations: thou shalt be greatly despised.
And Yahweh says this to the people of Edom: “I will soon cause you to become the weakest and most despised nation [on the earth].
3 The presumption of thy heart hath beguiled thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
Your [capital city] is high in the rocky cliffs, and you are very proud; you think that you are safe from being attacked by your enemies [RHQ], but you [IDM] have deceived yourselves.
4 Though thou wert to rise as high as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
And I tell you that even if [you had wings and] could fly higher than eagles fly, and if you could make your homes among the stars, I would bring you [crashing] down from there.
5 How? are thieves come to thee? or night-prowling robbers? how destroyed art thou! would they not have stolen till they had enough? if grape-gatherers had come to thee, would they not have left some gleanings?
When thieves break into someone’s house during the night, they certainly [RHQ] steal only the things that they want. And people who pick grapes always [RHQ] leave a few grapes on the vines. But your country will be completely destroyed!
6 How are [the treasures] of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things laid open!
Everything that is valuable will be taken away. [Your enemies] will find and take away even the valuable things that you have hidden.
7 Up to the border have accompanied thee all the men of thy confederacy; beguiled, overcome thee have the men that were at peace with thee: [they that eat] thy bread have struck thee secretly a wound. There is no understanding in him.
All (your allies/nations who promised to help you) will turn against you, and they will force you to leave your country/land. Those with whom you have peace now will trick/deceive you and defeat you. Those who eat meals with you now are planning to trap you, and [then they will say to you], ‘You are not [RHQ] as clever [as you thought you were]!’
8 Shall I not on that same day, saith the Lord, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
I, Yahweh, declare that at the time that I destroy Edom, I will punish the men who live in those cliffs who [thought that they] were wise.
9 And thy mighty men, O Theman, shall be dismayed, in order that every one from the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
The soldiers from Teman [town] will become terrified; all you people who are descendants of Esau will be (wiped out/killed).
10 Because of thy violence against thy brother Jacob shall shame cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
You acted cruel in a cruel way toward your relatives who are descendants of Jacob, [the twin brother of your ancestor Esau]. So now you will be disgraced forever; you will be completely destroyed.
11 On the day that thou stoodest on the other side, on the day that strangers carried away captive his army, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots over Jerusalem, also thou wast as any one of them.
Foreigners entered the gates of Jerusalem and (cast lots/threw small stones that were marked) to decide what valuable things they would take away; but you were as bad as those foreigners, because you just stood there [and did not help the Israelis].
12 But thou shouldst not have looked on [pleased] at the day of thy brother, on the day that he was delivered up to strangers; neither shouldst thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah on the day of their destruction; nor should thou have spoken proudly on the day of distress.
You should not have (gloated/been happy) about the disaster that the Israelis were experiencing. You should not have been happy when their towns were ruined. You should not have made fun [of them] when they were suffering.
13 Thou shouldst not have entered into the gate of my people on the day of their calamity; yea, thou too shouldst not have looked [pleased] on their affliction on the day of their calamity; nor have laid hands on their army on the day of their calamity;
They are my people, so you should not have entered their [city] gates when they were experiencing those disasters and you should not have laughed at them. And you should not have taken away their [valuable] possessions.
14 Neither shouldst thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldst thou have delivered up those of his that did remain on the day of distress.
You should not have stood at crossroads to catch those who were [trying to] escape. You should not have [captured them and] put them into the hands of [their enemies] when they were experiencing those disasters.”
15 For near is the day of the Lord over all the nations: as thou hast done, shall it be done unto thee; thy deeds shall return upon thy own head.
“There will soon be the time when I, Yahweh, will judge [and punish] all the nations. And you [people of Edom] will experience the same [disasters] that you caused [others to experience]. The same evil things that you have done to others will happen to you.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mount, so shall all the nations drink continually; yea, they shall drink, and they shall reel about, and they shall be as though they had not been.
[My people in Jerusalem have been punished] because I was very angry with them. [It is as though] [MET] they drank [a cup of very bitter liquid] on Zion, my sacred hill. But [I] will punish [MET] all the other nations even more severely, and cause them to disappear completely.
17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall be holy: and the house of Jacob shall again possess their inheritances.
But some [people in Jerusalem will escape], and Jerusalem will become a very holy/sacred place. Then the descendants of Jacob will [conquer and] possess again the land that truly belongs to them.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau become stubble, and they shall set them on fire, and devour them; and there shall not be any one remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.
The descendants [MTY] of Jacob and his son Joseph will be like [MET] a fire, and the people [MTY] of Edom will be like [MET] stubble that will be completely burned in that fire. Not one person will remain alive. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.”
19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the lowlands, the Philistines; and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin [shall possess] Gil'ad.
The Israeli people [who live] in the southern desert are the ones who will capture Edom. And those [who live in] the western foothills will capture the Phoenicia [region] and the areas of Ephraim and Samaria. And people of the tribe of Benjamin will conquer the Gilead [region].
20 And the exiles of this host of the children of Israel that are [with] the Canaanites, as far as Zarephath, and the exiles of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.
Those who were (exiled in/forced to go to) [Babylon] will [return to their land] [and] capture the Phoenicia [region] as far north as Zarephath [on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea]. People of Jerusalem who were captured and taken to Sardis, [the capital city of the Lydia region], will capture the towns in the southern desert.
21 And deliverers shall go up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau: and the kingdom shall be the Lord's
The army of Jerusalem will attack Edom and conquer it, and Yahweh will be their king.
