We’ve heard a message from the Lord.
    A messenger was sent to the nations.
The Lord told him to say,
    “Get up! Let us go and make war against Edom.”

“I will make you weak among the nations.
    They will look down on you.
³ You live in the safety of the rocks.
    You make your home high up in the mountains.
    But your proud heart has tricked you.
So you say to yourself,
    ‘No one can bring me down to the ground.’
⁴ You have built your home as high as an eagle does.
    You have made your nest among the stars.
    But I will bring you down from there,”
    announces the Lord.
⁵ “Edom, suppose robbers came to you at night.
    They would steal only as much as they wanted.
Suppose grape pickers came to harvest your vines.
    They would still leave a few grapes.
    But you are facing horrible trouble!
⁶ People of Esau, everything will be taken away from you.
    Your hidden treasures will be stolen.
⁷ All those who are helping you
    will force you to leave your country.
    Your friends will trick you and overpower you.
Those who eat bread with you
    will set a trap for you.
    But you will not see it.”

⁸ Here is what the Lord announces. “At that time
    I will destroy the wise men of Edom.
I will wipe out the men of understanding
    in the mountains of Esau.
⁹ People of Teman, your soldiers will be terrified.
    Everyone in Esau’s mountains
    will be cut down by swords.
¹⁰ You did harmful things to the people of Jacob.
    They are your relatives.
So you will be covered with shame.
    You will be destroyed forever.
¹¹ Outsiders entered the gates of Jerusalem.
    They cast lots to see what each one would get.
Strangers carried off its wealth.
    When that happened, you just stood there and did nothing.
    You were like one of them.
¹² That was a time of trouble for your relatives.
    So you shouldn’t have been happy about what happened to them.
The people of Judah were destroyed.
    So you should not have been happy about it.
You should not have laughed at them so much
    when they were in trouble.
¹³ You should not have marched
    through the gates of my people’s city
    when they were in trouble.
You shouldn’t have been happy about what happened to them.
    You should not have stolen their wealth
    when they were in trouble.
¹⁴ You waited where the roads cross.
    You wanted to cut down those who were running away.
    You should not have done that.
You handed over to their enemies
    those who were still left alive.
You should not have done that.
    They were in trouble.

¹⁵ “The day of the Lord is near
    for all the nations.
Others will do to you
    what you have done to them.
You will be paid back
    for what you have done.
¹⁶ You Edomites made my holy mountain of Zion impure
    by drinking and celebrating there.
So all the nations will drink
    from the cup of my anger.
    And they will keep on drinking from it.
They will vanish.
    It will be as if they had never existed.
¹⁷ But on Mount Zion some of my people will be left alive.
    I will save them.
    Zion will be my holy mountain once again.
And the people of Jacob
    will again receive the land as their own.
¹⁸ They will be like a fire.
    Joseph’s people will be like a flame.
The nation of Edom will be like straw.
    Jacob’s people will set Edom on fire and burn it up.
No one will be left alive
    among Esau’s people.”
The Lord has spoken.

¹⁹ Israelites from the Negev Desert
    will take over Esau’s mountains.
Israelites from the western hills
    will possess the land of the Philistines.
They’ll take over the territories
    of Ephraim and Samaria.
Israelites from the tribe of Benjamin
    will possess the land of Gilead.
²⁰ Some Israelites were forced to leave their homes.
    They’ll come back to Canaan and possess
    it all the way to the town of Zarephath.
Some people from Jerusalem were taken
    to the city of Sepharad.
They’ll return and possess
    the towns of the Negev Desert.
²¹ Leaders from Mount Zion will go
    and rule over the mountains of Esau.
    And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.

⁵ “Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you.
    Before you were born I set you apart to serve me.
    I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

“Their kings will come to Jerusalem.
    They will set up their thrones at the very gates of the city.
They will attack all the walls that surround the city.
    They will go to war against all the towns of Judah.
¹⁶ I will judge my people.
    They have done many evil things.
    They have deserted me.
They have burned incense to other gods.
    They have worshiped the gods
    their own hands have made.

“ ‘I remember how faithful you were to me when you were young.
    You loved me as if you were my bride.
You followed me through the desert.
    Nothing had been planted there.
³ Your people were holy to me.
    They were the first share of my harvest.
All those who destroyed them were held guilty.
    And trouble came to their enemies,’ ”
    announces the Lord.

⁴ People of Jacob, hear the Lord’s message.
    Listen, all you tribes of Israel.

“What did your people of long ago find wrong with me?
    Why did they wander so far away from me?
They worshiped worthless statues of gods.
    Then they themselves became worthless.
⁶ They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?
    He brought us up out of Egypt.
He led us through a dry and empty land.
    He guided us through deserts and deep valleys.
It was a land of total darkness where there wasn’t any rain.
    No one lived or traveled there.’
⁷ But I brought you into a land that has rich soil.
    I gave you its fruit and its finest food.
In spite of that, you made my land impure.
    You turned it into something I hate.
⁸ The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who taught my law did not know me.
    The leaders refused to obey me.
The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal.
    They worshiped worthless statues of gods.

⁹ “So I am bringing charges against you again,”
    announces the Lord.
    “And I will bring charges against your children’s children.
¹⁰ Go over to the coasts of Cyprus and look.
    Send people to the land of Kedar and have them look closely.
    See if there has ever been anything like this.
¹¹ Has a nation ever changed its gods?
    Actually, they are not even gods at all.
But my people have traded away their glorious God.
    They have traded me for worthless statues of gods.
¹² Sky above, be shocked over this.
    Tremble with horror,”
    announces the Lord.
¹³ “My people have sinned twice.
They have deserted me,
    even though I am the spring of water that gives life.
And they have dug their own wells.
    But those wells are broken.
    They can’t hold any water.
¹⁴ Are you people of Israel servants?
    You were not born as slaves, were you?
    Then why have you been carried off like stolen goods?
¹⁵ Lions have roared.
    They have growled at you.
They have destroyed your land.
    Your towns are burned and deserted.
¹⁶ The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
    have cracked your skulls.
¹⁷ Haven’t you brought this on yourselves?
    I am the Lord your God, but you deserted me.
    You left me even while I was leading you.
¹⁸ Why do you go to Egypt
    to drink water from the Nile River?
Why do you go to Assyria
    to drink from the Euphrates River?
¹⁹ You will be punished because you have sinned.
    You will be corrected for turning away from me.
I am the Lord your God.
    If you desert me, bad things will happen to you.
If you do not respect me, you will suffer bitterly.
    I want you to understand that,”
    announces the Lord who rules over all.

²⁰ “Long ago you broke off the yoke I put on you.
    You tore off the ropes I tied you up with.
    You said, ‘I won’t serve you!’
In fact, on every high hill
    you lay down like a prostitute.
    You worshiped other gods under every green tree.
²¹ You were like a good vine when I planted you.
    You were a healthy plant.
Then how did you turn against me?
    How did you become a bad, wild vine?
²² You might wash yourself with soap.
    You might use plenty of strong soap.
    But I can still see the stains your guilt covers you with,”
    announces the Lord and King.
²³ “You say, ‘I am “clean.”
    I haven’t followed the gods that are named Baal.’
How can you say that?
    Remember how you acted in the valley.
Consider what you have done.
    You are like a female camel running quickly here and there.
²⁴ You are like a wild donkey that lives in the desert.
    She smells the wind when she longs for a mate.
    Who can hold her back?
The males that run after her do not need to wear themselves out.
    At mating time they will easily find her.
²⁵ Do not run after other gods
    until your sandals are worn out and your throat is dry.
But you said, ‘It’s no use!
    I love those gods.
    I must go after them.’

²⁶ “A thief is dishonored when he is caught.
    And you people of Israel are filled with shame.
Your kings and officials are dishonored.
    So are your priests and your prophets.
²⁷ You say to a piece of wood, ‘You are my father.’
    You say to a stone, ‘You are my mother.’
You have turned your backs to me.
    You refuse to look at me.
But when you are in trouble, you say,
    ‘Come and save us!’
²⁸ Then where are the gods you made for yourselves?
    Let them come when you are in trouble!
    Let them save you if they can!
Judah, you have as many gods
    as you have towns.

²⁹ “Why do you bring charges against me?
    All of you have refused to obey me,”
    announces the Lord.
³⁰ “I punished your people. But it did not do them any good.
    They did not pay attention when they were corrected.
You have killed your prophets by swords.
    You have swallowed them up like a hungry lion.

“Have I been like a desert to Israel?
    Have I been like a land of deep darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to wander.
    We won’t come to you anymore’?
³² Does a young woman forget all about her jewelry?
    Does a bride forget her wedding jewels?
But my people have forgotten me
    more days than anyone can count.
³³ You are very skilled at chasing after love!
    Even the worst of women can learn from how you act.
³⁴ The blood of those you have killed is on your clothes.
    You have destroyed poor people who were not guilty.
    You did not catch them in the act of breaking in.
In spite of all this,
³⁵     you say, ‘I’m not guilty of doing anything wrong.
    The Lord isn’t angry with me.’
But I will judge you.
    That’s because you say, ‘I haven’t sinned.’
³⁶ Why do you keep on
    changing your ways so much?
Assyria did not help you.
    And Egypt will not help you either.
³⁷ So you will also leave Egypt
    with your hands tied together above your heads.
I have turned my back on those you trust.
    They will not help you.