Obadiah 1

1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God against Edom, We haue heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassadour is sent among the heathen: arise, and let vs rise vp against her to battel.

This is a message that Yahweh our God gave to me, Obadiah, about the Edom [people-group]. Yahweh our God has told me this about [the people of] Edom: “I, Yahweh, have sent a messenger to other nations, telling them to prepare to go and attack Edom.”

2 Beholde, I haue made thee small among the heathen: thou art vtterly despised.

And Yahweh says this to the people of Edom: “I will soon cause you to become the weakest and most despised nation [on the earth].

3 The pride of thine heart hath deceiued thee: thou that dwellest in the cleftes of the rockes, whose habitation is hie, that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me downe to the ground?

Your [capital city] is high in the rocky cliffs, and you are very proud; you think that you are safe from being attacked by your enemies [RHQ], but you [IDM] have deceived yourselves.

4 Though thou exalt thy selfe as the eagle, and make thy nest among the starres, thence will I bring thee downe, sayth the Lord.

And I tell you that even if [you had wings and] could fly higher than eagles fly, and if you could make your homes among the stars, I would bring you [crashing] down from there.

5 Came theeues to thee or robbers by night? howe wast thou brought to silence? woulde they not haue stolen, til they had ynough? if the grape gatherers came to thee, woulde they not leaue some grapes?

When thieves break into someone’s house during the night, they certainly [RHQ] steal only the things that they want. And people who pick grapes always [RHQ] leave a few grapes on the vines. But your country will be completely destroyed!

6 Howe are the things of Esau sought vp, and his treasures searched?

Everything that is valuable will be taken away. [Your enemies] will find and take away even the valuable things that you have hidden.

7 All the men of thy confederacie haue driuen thee to ye borders: the men that were at peace with thee, haue deceiued thee, and preuailed against thee: they that eate thy bread, haue laid a wound vnder thee: there is none vnderstanding in him.

All (your allies/nations who promised to help you) will turn against you, and they will force you to leave your country/land. Those with whom you have peace now will trick/deceive you and defeat you. Those who eat meals with you now are planning to trap you, and [then they will say to you], ‘You are not [RHQ] as clever [as you thought you were]!’

8 Shall not I in that day, saith the Lord, euen destroy the wise men out of Edom, and vnderstanding from the mount of Esau?

I, Yahweh, declare that at the time that I destroy Edom, I will punish the men who live in those cliffs who [thought that they] were wise.

9 And thy strong men, O Teman, shall bee afraide, because euery one of the mount of Esau shalbe cut off by slaughter.

The soldiers from Teman [town] will become terrified; all you people who are descendants of Esau will be (wiped out/killed).

10 For thy crueltie against thy brother Iaakob, shame shall couer thee, and thou shalt be cut off for euer.

You acted cruel in a cruel way toward your relatives who are descendants of Jacob, [the twin brother of your ancestor Esau]. So now you will be disgraced forever; you will be completely destroyed.

11 When thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers caried away his substance, and straungers entred into his gates, and cast lots vpon Ierusalem, euen thou wast as one of them.

Foreigners entered the gates of Jerusalem and (cast lots/threw small stones that were marked) to decide what valuable things they would take away; but you were as bad as those foreigners, because you just stood there [and did not help the Israelis].

12 But thou shouldest not haue beholden the day of thy brother, in the day that hee was made a stranger, neither shouldest thou haue reioyced ouer the children of Iudah, in the day of their destruction: thou shouldest not haue spoken proudly in the day of affliction.

You should not have (gloated/been happy) about the disaster that the Israelis were experiencing. You should not have been happy when their towns were ruined. You should not have made fun [of them] when they were suffering.

13 Thou shouldest not haue entred into the gate of my people, in the day of their destruction, neither shouldest thou haue once looked on their affliction in the day of their destruction, nor haue layde hands on their substance in the day of their destruction.

They are my people, so you should not have entered their [city] gates when they were experiencing those disasters and you should not have laughed at them. And you should not have taken away their [valuable] possessions.

14 Neyther shouldest thou haue stande in the crosse wayes to cut off them, that shoulde escape, neither shouldest thou haue shut vp the remnant thereof in the day of affliction.

You should not have stood at crossroads to catch those who were [trying to] escape. You should not have [captured them and] put them into the hands of [their enemies] when they were experiencing those disasters.”

15 For the day of the Lord is neere, vpon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall bee done to thee: thy reward shall returne vpon thine head.

“There will soon be the time when I, Yahweh, will judge [and punish] all the nations. And you [people of Edom] will experience the same [disasters] that you caused [others to experience]. The same evil things that you have done to others will happen to you.

16 For as yee haue drunke vpon mine holy Mountaine, so shall all the heathen drinke continually: yea, they shall drinke and swallow vp, and they shalbe as though they had not bene.

[My people in Jerusalem have been punished] because I was very angry with them. [It is as though] [MET] they drank [a cup of very bitter liquid] on Zion, my sacred hill. But [I] will punish [MET] all the other nations even more severely, and cause them to disappear completely.

17 But vpon mount Zion shalbe deliuerance, and it shalbe holy, and the house of Iaakob shall possesse their possessions,

But some [people in Jerusalem will escape], and Jerusalem will become a very holy/sacred place. Then the descendants of Jacob will [conquer and] possess again the land that truly belongs to them.

18 And the house of Iaakob shalbe a fire, and the house of Ioseph a flame, and the house of Esau as stubble, and they shall kindle in them and deuoure them: and there shall bee no remnant of the house of Esau for the Lord hath spoken it.

The descendants [MTY] of Jacob and his son Joseph will be like [MET] a fire, and the people [MTY] of Edom will be like [MET] stubble that will be completely burned in that fire. Not one person will remain alive. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.”

19 And they shall possesse the South side of the mount of Esau, and the plaine of the Philistims: and they shall possesse the fieldes of Ephraim, and the fieldes of Samaria, and Beniamin shall haue Gilead.

The Israeli people [who live] in the southern desert are the ones who will capture Edom. And those [who live in] the western foothills will capture the Phoenicia [region] and the areas of Ephraim and Samaria. And people of the tribe of Benjamin will conquer the Gilead [region].

20 And the captiuitie of this host of the children of Israel, which were among the Canaanites, shall possesse vnto Zarephath, and the captiuitie of Ierusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possesse the cities of the South.

Those who were (exiled in/forced to go to) [Babylon] will [return to their land] [and] capture the Phoenicia [region] as far north as Zarephath [on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea]. People of Jerusalem who were captured and taken to Sardis, [the capital city of the Lydia region], will capture the towns in the southern desert.

21 And they that shall saue, shall come vp to mount Zion to iudge the mount of Esau, and the kingdome shalbe the Lords.

The army of Jerusalem will attack Edom and conquer it, and Yahweh will be their king.