New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 This is the vision that the Sovereign LORD revealed to Obadiah concerning the land of Edom. Edom’s Judgment Announced We have heard a message from the LORD that an ambassador was sent to the nations to say, “Get ready, everyone! Let’s assemble our armies and attack Edom!”
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Obadiah's Message to Edom from God, the Master. We got the news straight from God by a special messenger sent out to the godless nations: "On your feet, prepare for battle; get ready to make war on Edom!
2 The LORD says to Edom, “I will cut you down to size among the nations; you will be greatly despised.
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"Listen to this, Edom: I'm turning you to a no-account, the runt of the godless nations, despised.
3 You have been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. ‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’ you ask boastfully.
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You thought you were so great, perched high among the rocks, king of the mountain, Thinking to yourself, 'Nobody can get to me! Nobody can touch me!'
4 But even if you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down,” says the LORD .
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Think again. Even if, like an eagle, you hang out on a high cliff-face, Even if you build your nest in the stars, I'll bring you down to earth." God's sure Word.
5 “If thieves came at night and robbed you (what a disaster awaits you!), they would not take everything. Those who harvest grapes always leave a few for the poor. But your enemies will wipe you out completely!
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"If thieves crept up on you, they'd rob you blind - isn't that so? If they mugged you on the streets at night, they'd pick you clean - isn't that so?
6 Every nook and cranny of Edom will be searched and looted. Every treasure will be found and taken.
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Oh, they'll take Esau apart, piece by piece, empty his purse and pockets.
7 “All your allies will turn against you. They will help to chase you from your land. They will promise you peace while plotting to deceive and destroy you. Your trusted friends will set traps for you, and you won’t even know about it.
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All your old partners will drive you to the edge. Your old friends will lie to your face. Your old drinking buddies will stab you in the back. Your world will collapse. You won't know what hit you.
8 At that time not a single wise person will be left in the whole land of Edom,” says the LORD . “For on the mountains of Edom I will destroy everyone who has understanding.
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So don't be surprised" - it's God's sure Word! - "when I wipe out all sages from Edom and rid the Esau mountains of its famous wise men.
9 The mightiest warriors of Teman will be terrified, and everyone on the mountains of Edom will be cut down in the slaughter.
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Your great heroes will desert you, Teman. There'll be nobody left in Esau's mountains.
10 “Because of the violence you did to your close relatives in Israel, you will be filled with shame and destroyed forever.
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Because of the murderous history compiled against your brother Jacob, You will be looked down on by everyone. You'll lose your place in history.
11 When they were invaded, you stood aloof, refusing to help them. Foreign invaders carried off their wealth and cast lots to divide up Jerusalem, but you acted like one of Israel’s enemies.
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On that day you stood there and didn't do anything. Strangers took your brother's army into exile. Godless foreigners invaded and pillaged Jerusalem. You stood there and watched. You were as bad as they were.
12 “You should not have gloated when they exiled your relatives to distant lands. You should not have rejoiced when the people of Judah suffered such misfortune. You should not have spoken arrogantly in that terrible time of trouble.
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You shouldn't have gloated over your brother when he was down-and-out. You shouldn't have laughed and joked at Judah's sons when they were facedown in the mud. You shouldn't have talked so big when everything was so bad.
13 You should not have plundered the land of Israel when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have gloated over their destruction when they were suffering such calamity. You should not have seized their wealth when they were suffering such calamity.
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You shouldn't have taken advantage of my people when their lives had fallen apart. You of all people should not have been amused by their troubles, their wrecked nation. You shouldn't have taken the shirt off their back when they were knocked flat, defenseless.
14 You should not have stood at the crossroads, killing those who tried to escape. You should not have captured the survivors and handed them over in their terrible time of trouble.
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And you shouldn't have stood waiting at the outskirts and cut off refugees, And traitorously turned in helpless survivors who had lost everything.
15 “The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads.
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"God's Judgment Day is near for all the godless nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. What you did will boomerang back and hit your own head.
16 Just as you swallowed up my people on my holy mountain, so you and the surrounding nations will swallow the punishment I pour out on you. Yes, all you nations will drink and stagger and disappear from history.
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Just as you partied on my holy mountain, all the godless nations will drink God's wrath. They'll drink and drink and drink - they'll drink themselves to death.
17 “But Jerusalem will become a refuge for those who escape; it will be a holy place. And the people of Israel will come back to reclaim their inheritance.
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But not so on Mount Zion - there's respite there! a safe and holy place! The family of Jacob will take back their possessions from those who took them from them.
18 The people of Israel will be a raging fire, and Edom a field of dry stubble. The descendants of Joseph will be a flame roaring across the field, devouring everything. There will be no survivors in Edom. I, the LORD, have spoken!
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That's when the family of Jacob will catch fire, the family of Joseph become fierce flame, while the family of Esau will be straw. Esau will go up in flames, nothing left of Esau but a pile of ashes." God said it, and it is so.
19 “Then my people living in the Negev will occupy the mountains of Edom. Those living in the foothills of Judah will possess the Philistine plains and take over the fields of Ephraim and Samaria. And the people of Benjamin will occupy the land of Gilead.
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People from the south will take over the Esau mountains; people from the foothills will overrun the Philistines. They'll take the farms of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will take Gilead.
20 The exiles of Israel will return to their land and occupy the Phoenician coast as far north as Zarephath. The captives from Jerusalem exiled in the north will return home and resettle the towns of the Negev.
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Earlier, Israelite exiles will come back and take Canaanite land to the north at Zarephath. Jerusalem exiles from the far northwest in Sepharad will come back and take the cities in the south.
21 Those who have been rescued will go up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem to rule over the mountains of Edom. And the LORD himself will be king!”
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The remnant of the saved in Mount Zion will go into the mountains of Esau And rule justly and fairly, a rule that honors God's kingdom.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.