Obadiah 1
1 The vision of Obadiah, —Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, concerning Edom—A rumour, have we heard from Yahweh, and, a herald, throughout the nations, hath been sent, Up! and let us rise 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 Lo! small, have I made thee, among the nations—Despised art thou exceedingly!
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 insolence of thy heart, hath deceived thee, O thou that inhabitest the retreats of the crag, the height of his habitation, —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 build high like an eagle, and though, among the stars, thou set thy nest, from thence, will I bring thee down, Declareth Yahweh.
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 If, thieves, had come to thee, if robbers by night—how ruined thou art! Would they not have stolen what sufficed them? If, grape-gatherers, had come to thee, Would they not have left 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 have the things of Esau been searched out! his treasures been sought up!
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 boundary, have they sent thee—All thy covenant men, they have deceived thee, prevailed against thee—the men thou wast wont to salute, —The partakers of thy bread, have put a net under thee—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 it not be, in that day, Demandeth Yahweh, —That I will destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of Mount 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 So shall thy mighty men, O Teman, be dismayed, —to the intent that every man, may be cut off, out of Mount Esau, by slaughter.
The soldiers from Teman [town] will become terrified; all you people who are descendants of Esau will be (wiped out/killed).
10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob, shall shame, cover thee, —so shalt thou be cut off, to times age-abiding.
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 In the day when thou didst take thy stand over against him, in the day when foreigners took captive his forces, —and, aliens, entered his gates, and, over Jerusalem, cast lots, even thou, wast like 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 Do not, then, look with satisfaction upon the day of thy brother, upon the day of his calamity, Neither rejoice over the sons of Judah—in the day of their ruin, —nor enlarge thy mouth—in 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 Do not enter into the gate of my people—in the day of their misfortune, Do not, thou also, look with satisfaction on his misery—in the day of his misfortune; neither do thou thrust [thy hands] on his substance—in the day of his misfortune;
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 do thou stand at the parting of the way, to cut off his fugitives, —neither do thou deliver up his survivors—in 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 Yahweh, upon all the nations, —Just as thou hast done, shall it be done to thee, Thy dealing, shall come back upon thine 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 on my holy mountain, all the nations shall drink continually, —Yea they shall drink and swallow down, and 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, in Mount Zion, shall be a delivered remnant which shall be holy, —and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions;
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, with the house of Esau for stubble, So shall they kindle upon them, and devour them, —and there shall be no survivor to the house of Esau, for, Yahweh, hath spoken.
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 Then shall they of the South possess Mount Esau, and they of the Lowlands, the Philistines, and they [of the Mountain] shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria, —and Benjamin [shall possess] Gilead;
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, they of the captivity of this force pertaining to the sons of Israel, [shall possess] that of the Canaanites, up to Zarephath, and, they of the captivity 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 saviours shall come up in Mount Zion, to judge the mountain of Esau, —So shall the kingdom, belong unto Yahweh.
The army of Jerusalem will attack Edom and conquer it, and Yahweh will be their king.
