1This is the vision of Obadiah. This is what the Lord Yahweh says about Edom: We have heard a message from Yahweh, and a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, “Get ready! Let’s go to war against her.”
2“Look, I have made you small among the nations; you are greatly despised.”
3“Your proud heart has tricked you, you who live in the rocky cliffs, whose home is high up. You say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
4“Even if you soar as high as an eagle, and even if your nest is among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
5“If thieves came to you, if robbers came at night—oh, what disaster awaits you!—wouldn’t they steal only until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some grapes behind?
6How completely Esau will be searched! How all his hidden treasures will be uncovered!
7All your allies have escorted you to the border. The men who were at peace with you have deceived you and overpowered you. Friends who eat your food have set a trap for you. They have no understanding.”
8“On that day,” says Yahweh, “won’t I destroy the wise men from Edom and all understanding from Esau’s mountain?
9Your strong warriors, Teman, will be terrified, so that everyone on Esau’s mountain will be wiped out by slaughter.
10Because of the violence you did to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and wiped out forever.
11On the day you stood by, on the day strangers took his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them.
12But don’t gloat over your brother on the day of his disaster. Don’t rejoice over the people of Judah on the day they are destroyed. Don’t speak proudly on the day of their trouble.
13Don’t enter the gate of my people on the day of their misfortune. Don’t look with satisfaction on their suffering on the day of their misfortune, and don’t take their wealth on the day of their misfortune.
14Don’t wait at the crossroads to cut off those who are escaping. Don’t hand over those who survive during times of trouble.
15For the day of Yahweh is coming soon for all the nations! What you have done will be done to you. Your actions will come back to you.
16Just as you celebrated on my holy mountain, all the nations will continually celebrate. Yes, they will drink, gulp it down, and disappear as if they never existed.
17But on Mount Zion, some will escape, and it will be a holy place. The descendants of Jacob will take back what was theirs.
18The descendants of Jacob will be like a fire, and the descendants of Joseph a flame, but the descendants of Esau will be like dry stubble. They will burn and destroy them. No one from the descendants of Esau will be left.” Indeed, Yahweh has spoken.
19Those from the southern desert will conquer the land of Esau, and those from the coastal plain will conquer the Philistines. They will conquer the territory of Ephraim and Samaria. Benjamin will conquer Gilead.
20The Israelites who were taken captive and are living among the Canaanites will conquer the land as far as Zarephath. And the captives from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will conquer the cities of the Negev.
21Deliverers will go up to Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will belong to Yahweh.