Obadiah
New Century Version
The Lord Will Punish the Edomites
1 This is the vision of Obadiah.
This is what the Lord God says about Edom:[a]
We have heard a message from the Lord.
A messenger has been sent among the nations, saying,
“Attack! Let’s go attack Edom!”
The Lord Speaks to the Edomites
2 “Soon I will make you the smallest of nations.
You will be greatly hated by everyone.
3 Your pride has fooled you,
you who live in the hollow places of the cliff.
Your home is up high,
you who say to yourself,
‘No one can bring me down to the ground.’
4 Even if you fly high like the eagle
and make your nest among the stars,
I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
5 “You will really be ruined!
If thieves came to you,
if robbers came by night,
they would steal only enough for themselves.
If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,
they would leave a few behind.
6 But you, Edom, will really lose everything!
People will find all your hidden treasures!
7 All the people who are your friends
will force you out of the land.
The people who are at peace with you
will trick you and defeat you.
Those who eat your bread with you now
are planning a trap for you,
and you will not notice it.”
8 The Lord says, “On that day
I will surely destroy the wise people from Edom,
and those with understanding from the mountains of Edom.
9 Then, city of Teman, your best warriors will be afraid,
and everyone from the mountains of Edom will be killed.
10 You did violence to your relatives, the Israelites,
so you will be covered with shame
and destroyed forever.
11 You stood aside without helping
while strangers carried Israel’s treasures away.
When foreigners entered Israel’s city gate
and threw lots to decide what part of Jerusalem they would take,
you were like one of them.
Commands That Edom Broke
12 “Edom, do not laugh at your brother Israel in his time of trouble
or be happy about the people of Judah when they are destroyed.
Do not brag when cruel things are done to them.
13 Do not enter the city gate of my people
in their time of trouble
or laugh at their problems
in their time of trouble.
Do not take their treasures
in their time of trouble.
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
to destroy those who are trying to escape.
Do not capture those who escape alive and turn them over to their enemy
in their time of trouble.
The Nations Will Be Judged
15 “The Lord’s day of judging is coming soon
to all the nations.
The same evil things you did to other people
will happen to you;
they will come back upon your own head.
16 Because you drank in my Temple,
all the nations will drink on and on.
They will drink and drink
until they disappear.
17 But on Mount Zion some will escape the judgment,
and it will be a holy place.
The people of Jacob will take back their land
from those who took it from them.
18 The people of Jacob will be like a fire
and the people of Joseph[b] like a flame.
But the people of Esau[c] will be like dry stalks.
The people of Jacob will set them on fire and burn them up.
There will be no one left of the people of Esau.”
This will happen because the Lord has said it.
19 Then God’s people will regain southern Judah from Edom;
they will take back the mountains of Edom.
They will take back the western hills
from the Philistines.
They will regain the lands of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will take over Gilead.
20 People from Israel who once were forced to leave their homes
will take the land of the Canaanites,
all the way to Zarephath.
People from Judah who once were forced to leave Jerusalem and live in Sepharad
will take back the cities of southern Judah.
21 Powerful warriors will go up on Mount Zion,
where they will rule the people living on Edom’s mountains.
And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.
Obadiah
English Standard Version
1 The vision of Obadiah.
Edom Will Be Humbled
Thus says the Lord God (A)concerning Edom:
(B)We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
2 Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.[a]
3 (C)The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,[b]
in your lofty dwelling,
(D)who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
4 Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.
5 If (E)thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If (F)grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
6 (G)How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
7 All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
(H)those who eat your bread[c] have set a trap beneath you—
(I)you have[d] no understanding.
8 (J)Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of (K)Mount Esau?
9 And your mighty men shall be dismayed, (L)O Teman,
so that every man from (M)Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.
Edom's Violence Against Jacob
10 (N)Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
(O)and you shall be cut off forever.
11 (P)On the day that you stood aloof,
(Q)on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
(R)and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
12 (S)But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
(T)do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
(U)do not boast[e]
in the day of distress.
13 (V)Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
(W)do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
(X)do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
14 (Y)Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.
The Day of the Lord Is Near
15 For (Z)the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
(AA)As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
16 (AB)For as you have drunk on (AC)my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
17 (AD)But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
(AE)and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
18 (AF)The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau (AG)stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
(AH)and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.
The Kingdom of the Lord
19 Those of (AI)the Negeb (AJ)shall possess (AK)Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess (AL)the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of (AM)Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as (AN)Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
21 (AO)Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule (AP)Mount Esau,
and (AQ)the kingdom shall be the Lord's.
Footnotes
- Obadiah 1:2 Or Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised
- Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
- Obadiah 1:7 Hebrew lacks those who eat
- Obadiah 1:7 Hebrew he has
- Obadiah 1:12 Hebrew do not enlarge your mouth
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
