Ezekiel 35

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

35 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²Son of man, set your face against the mountain [range of] Seir [in Edom] and prophesy against it,

³And say to it, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you, and I will stretch out My hand against you and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.

⁴I will lay your cities waste and you shall be desolate, and you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].

⁵Because you [of Esau] have had a perpetual enmity [for Jacob] and you gave over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when they were suffering their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest],^(A)

⁶Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will expose you to slaughter and slaughter shall pursue you; since you could not bear to live without bloodshed, therefore bloodshed shall pursue you.

⁷Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation, and I will cut off from it him who passes through it and him who returns [that way].

⁸And I will fill [Edom’s] mountains with his slain men; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines shall those fall who are slain with the sword.

⁹I will make you a perpetual desolation and your ^[a]cities shall not be inhabited. Then you will know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].

¹⁰Because you [Edom] said, These two nations [Israel and Judah] and these two countries shall be mine and we will take possession of them—although the Lord was there,

¹¹Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy you showed because of your enmity for them, and I will make Myself known among them [as He Who will judge and punish] when I judge and punish you.

¹²And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service], and that I have heard all your revilings and scornful speeches that you have uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid waste and desolate; they are given to us to devour.

¹³Thus you have boasted and magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth, multiplying your words against Me; I have heard it.

¹⁴Thus says the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you a waste and desolation.

¹⁵As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you; you shall be a waste and desolation, O Mount Seir and all Edom, all of it. Then they shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord [the Sovereign Ruler, Who calls forth loyalty and obedient service].

Footnotes

Ezekiel 35:9 The Edomites gave whatever help they could to Nebuchadnezzar when he captured Judah (Ps. 137:7; Obad. 11-14). Later these cousins of the Israelites were pushed out of their own country into southern Judea; Hebron became their chief city. When in a.d. 70 the Romans under Titus besieged Jerusalem, Josephus says that the Edomites joined the Jews in rebellion against the attackers, and 20,000 were admitted into the city as defenders of the Holy City. But once in, they pillaged the city, raping and killing, not even sparing the priests—though these traitors themselves had been previously forced to become circumcised and recognized as Jews. The Roman conqueror slew them, and Edom ceased to be. The forecasts of the prophets regarding Edom are in striking contrast to those of their neighbors, Moab and Ammon. The latter two countries were to suffer great and severe judgments, as was Edom. But restoration and renewed prosperity were promised to them “in the latter days” (Jer. 48:47; 49:6), while Edom was never to be rebuilt. This is all obviously nearing fulfillment in the twentieth century. Truly Edom is the scene of “a perpetual desolation,” with no hint of restoration.