< Obadiah 1 >

1 Visioun of Abdias. The Lord God seith these thingis to Edom. We herden an heryng of the Lord, and he sente a messanger to hethene men. Rise ye, and togidere rise we ayens hym in to batel.
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.
2 Lo! Y yaf thee litil in hethene men, thou art ful myche `worthi to be dispisid.
Behold, I make thee small among the nations: thou shalt be greatly despised.
3 The pride of thin herte enhaunside thee, dwellynge in crasyngis of stoonys, areisynge thi seete. Whiche seist in thin herte, Who schal drawe me doun in to erthe?
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?
4 Thouy thou schalt be reisid as an egle, and thouy thou schalt putte thi nest among sterris, fro thennus Y schal drawe thee doun, seith the Lord.
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.
5 If niyt theuys hadden entrid to thee, if outlawis bi niyt, hou schuldist thou haue be stille? whether thei schulden not haue stole thingis ynow to hem? If gadereris of grapis hadden entrid to thee, whether thei schulden haue left nameli clustris to thee?
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?
6 Hou souyten thei Esau, serchiden the hid thingis of him?
How are [the treasures] of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things laid open!
7 Til to the termes thei senten out thee; and alle men of thi couenaunt of pees scorneden thee, men of thi pees wexiden stronge ayens thee; thei that schulen ete with thee, schulen put aspies, ether tresouns, vndur thee; ther is no prudence in hym.
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.
8 Whether not in that dai, seith the Lord, Y schal lese the wise men of Idumee, and prudence of the mount of Esau?
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?
9 And thi stronge men schulen drede of myddai, that a man of the hil of Esau perische.
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.
10 For sleyng and for wickidnesse ayens thi brother Jacob, confusioun schal hile thee, and thou schalt perische with outen ende.
Because of thy violence against thy brother Jacob shall shame cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
11 In the dai whanne thou stodist ayens hym, whanne aliens token the oost of hym, and straungeris entriden the yatis of hym, and senten lot on Jerusalem, thou were also as oon of hem.
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.
12 And thou schalt not dispise in the dai of thi brother, in the dai of his pilgrimage, and thou schalt not be glad on the sones of Juda, in the dai of perdicioun of hem; and thou schalt not magnefie thi mouth in the dai of angwisch,
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.
13 nether schalt entre in to the yate of my puple, in the dai of fallyng of hem; and thou schalt not dispise in the yuels of hym, in the dai of his distriyng; and thou schalt not be sent out ayens his oost, in the day of his distriyng;
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;
14 nether thou schalt stonde in the goynges out, that thou sle hem that fledden; and thou schalt not close togidere the residues, ether left men, of hym, in the day of tribulacioun,
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.
15 for the dai of the Lord is niy on alle `hethene men. As thou hast doon, it schal be doon to thee; he schal conuerte thi yeldyng in to thin heed.
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.
16 For as ye drunken on myn hooli hil, alle hethene men schulen drynke bisili, and thei schulen drynke, and schulen soupe vp; and thei schulen be as if thei ben not.
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.
17 And saluacioun schal be in the hil of Sion, and it schal be hooli; and the hous of Jacob schal welde hem whiche weldiden hem.
But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and it shall be holy: and the house of Jacob shall again possess their inheritances.
18 And the hous of Jacob schal be fier, and the hous of Joseph schal be flawme, and the hous of Esau schal be stobil; and `thei schulen be kyndlid in hem, and thei schulen deuoure hem; and relifs schulen not be of the hous of Esau, for the Lord spak.
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.
19 And these that ben at the south, schulen enherite the hil of Esau; and thei that ben in the lowe feeldis, schulen enherite Filistiym; and thei schulen welde the cuntrei of Effraym, and cuntrei of Samarie; and Beniamyn schal welde Galaad.
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.
20 And ouerpassyng of this oost of sones of Israel schal welde alle places of Cananeis, til to Sarepta; and the transmygracioun of Jerusalem, that is in Bosphoro, schal welde citees of the south.
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.
21 And sauyours schulen stie in to the hil of Sion, for to deme the hil of Esau, and a rewme schal be to the Lord.
And deliverers shall go up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau: and the kingdom shall be the Lord's

< Obadiah 1 >