Ezekiel 35

1 Yahweh gave me another message. He said,

And 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 you shall prophesy about it, and you shall say to 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.

Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, mount Seir, and I will extend my hand over you, and I will make you desolate and deserted.

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 tear down your cities, and you will be deserted. And you shall 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].

For you have been a continual adversary, and you have enclosed the sons of Israel, by the hands of the sword, in the time of their affliction, in the time of extreme iniquity.

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;

Because of this, as I live, says the Lord God, I will hand you over to blood, and blood will pursue you. Even though you have hated blood, blood 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.

And I will make mount Seir desolate and deserted. And I will take away from it the one who departs and the one who returns.

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.

And I will fill up its mountains with its slain. In your hills, and in your valleys, as well as in your torrents, the slain will fall by the sword.

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 hand you over to everlasting desolations, and your cities will not be inhabited. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.

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].

For you have said, ‘Two nations and two lands will be mine, and I will possess them as an inheritance,’ though the Lord was in that place.

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.

Because of this, as I live, says the Lord God, I will act in accord with your own wrath, and in accord with your own zeal, by which you have acted with hatred toward them. And I will be made known by them, when I will have judged 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].

And you shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your disgraces, which you have spoken about the mountains of Israel, saying: ‘They are deserted. They have been given to us to devour.’

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

And you rose up against me with your mouth, and you disparaged against me with your words. I have heard.

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.

Thus says the Lord God: When the whole earth will rejoice, I will reduce you to solitude.

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].’”

Just as you have rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, when it was laid waste, so will I act toward you. You will be laid waste, O mount Seir, with all of Idumea. And they shall know that I am the Lord.”