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Obadiah 1:1-14

God will punish Edom's people

1 This is the vision that Obadiah saw.

The Almighty Lord says this about Edom.

1:1When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It is his own name that he told Moses. See Exodus 3:14. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been there and he always will be there.

We have heard a message from the Lord.

Someone has taken a message to the nations to say,

‘Stand up and fight against Edom.’

2 The Lord says to Edom,

‘I will make you small among other people.

They will think that you are not worth anything.

3 You think that you are better than other people. And so you believe something that is not true.

You live in a place that is difficult to reach.

Your home is high up in a place among rocks.

You say to yourself,

“Nobody can reach us up here.”

4 You may be like a strong bird that flies high.

And you may make your home in the highest places among the stars.

But I will bring you down from there.’

That is what the Lord says.

5 He says,

‘Men might come in the night

to take away what is yours.

(Oh! What a very bad thing will happen to you!)

But they would not take everything.

If people came to take fruit from your trees,

they would leave some fruit on the tree.

6 But people will take everything from Esau's people (also called Edom).

They will even take the valuable things that you hide.

7 People who have helped you to fight

will push you out from your country.

They will tell you what is not true. You will believe them.

They will be stronger than you

because you will believe their words.

They will make a trap for you.’

8 The Lord says,

‘Some men in Edom know what is right. But, at that time, I will kill them.

1:8The people in Edom were descendants of Esau. The Israelites were descendants of Jacob. Jacob and Esau were brothers.

Some men in the mountains know what is good. (These are the mountains where Esau's people live.) But I will kill those men.

9 There are men from Teman city that fight. But I will make them afraid.

Esau's people live in the mountains. And everyone there will die.

10 This will happen because you were cruel to your brother Jacob (the people in Israel).

God will make you ashamed because of this and you will die.

11 Men from other countries came into Jerusalem. They took away all the good things from Jerusalem. They played a game for the best things. You were as bad as they were. You did not help the Israelites.

12 Your brothers in Judah were in great trouble.

You thought that you were better than they. But you were wrong to think that.

You should not have been happy when the people in Judah were dying.

You should not have been happy when they were in trouble.

13 You should not have walked like soldiers through my people's gates.

You did that at the time when they were in trouble.

You should not have thought that you were better than they.

You thought it at the time when they were in trouble.

You should not have taken what belonged to them.

14 You waited at the place where the roads joined each other.

You wanted to kill those that ran away from the enemy.

That is why you waited there.

You should not have done that.

Some Israelites were still alive, but they were in trouble.

You should not have taken them to the enemy.