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 saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom: We have heard a message from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the nations: 'Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.'

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 art 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 pride of thy heart hath beguiled thee, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, thy habitation on high; that sayest in thy 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 make thy nest as high as the eagle, and though thou set it among the stars, I will bring thee down from thence, 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?

If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night — how art thou cut off! — would they not steal till they had enough? If grape-gatherers came to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes?

6 Hou souyten thei Esau, serchiden the hid thingis of him?

How is Esau searched out! How are his hidden places sought out!

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.

All the men of thy confederacy have conducted thee to the border; the men that were at peace with thee have beguiled thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread lay a snare under thee, in whom there is no discernment.

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 in that day, saith the LORD, destroy the wise men out of Edom, and discernment 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 Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one may be cut off from the mount of Esau by slaughter.

10 For sleyng and for wickidnesse ayens thi brother Jacob, confusioun schal hile thee, and thou schalt perische with outen ende.

For the violence done to thy brother Jacob shame shall 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.

In the day that thou didst stand aloof, in the day that strangers carried away his substance, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as 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 shouldest not have gazed on the day of thy brother in the day of his disaster, neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in 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 shouldest not have entered into the gate of My people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have gazed on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in 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 shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in 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 the day of the LORD is near upon all the nations; as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee; thy dealing shall return upon thine 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 mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and swallow down, and 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 in mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

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 for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken.

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 Lowland the Philistines; and they shall possess the field of Ephraim, and the field of Samaria; and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

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 captivity of this host of the children of Israel, that are among the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath, and the captivity of Jerusalem, that is 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 saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.