Ezekiel 35

1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 “You human, turn toward Edom and prophesy what will happen to its people. Say that this is what Yahweh says to them:

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

3 ‘You who live near Seir Mountain [in Edom], I am opposed to you, and I will use my power [MTY] to strike you and cause your country to become a wasteland.

and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Mount Seir. I will stretch out My hand against you and make you a desolate waste.

4 I will cause your country to be ruined and desolate. When that happens, people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

I will turn your cities into ruins, and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

5 You have always been enemies of the Israeli people. You [rejoiced] when they experienced a great disaster: [their enemies attacked them with] swords, when I punished them [for the sins that they had committed].

Because you harbored an ancient hatred and delivered the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their disaster at the final stage of their punishment,

6 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, I will allow [your enemies] to slaughter [MTY] you and continue to slaughter you. You were happy when [LIT] others were slaughtered;

therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will give you over to bloodshed and it will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, it will pursue you.

7 so I will cause Seir Mountain to be abandoned/deserted, and I will get rid of anyone who enters it or leaves it.

I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and will cut off from it those who come and go.

8 I will cause your mountains to be filled with [the corpses of] those who have been killed. The corpses of those who have been killed by [your enemies’] swords will lie on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines.

I will fill its mountains with the slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines.

9 I will cause your land to be deserted forever. No one will live in your towns again. When that happens, you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].

I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

10 You people said, “Israel and Judah will become ours. We will take over their territory!” You said that even though I, Yahweh, was still there [and protecting them].

Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,

11 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, I will punish [MTY] you for being angry with my people, envying them, and hating them.

therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred against them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

12 Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have heard all the disgusting things that you have said about the mountains in Israel. You said that they have been ruined/devastated, and that they have been given to you to occupy [MET].

Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’

13 When you insulted me, I heard all that you said about me.

You boasted against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me. I heard it Myself!

14 So this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: You people who live on Seir Mountain and in all the other places in Edom, when I cause your land to become desolate, everyone in the entire world will rejoice.

This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

15 You were happy when the land [MTY] of the Israeli people became desolate, so I will cause your land to become desolate. When that happens, people will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”

As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.