Obadiah
From the Greek Septuagint
About
Obadiah is a record of the prophecies given to the prophet of the same name in the late 7th century BC.
It was spoken against the descendants of IsaAc’s son Esau (known as the Edomites). It foretold their coming destruction for the bad things that they did to the Kingdom of Judah while it was being destroyed by the Babylonians.
Source
We’ve translated it from Greek Septuagint manuscripts dating from the 300s AD; that makes our sources about 600 years older than the traditional Hebrew text used by other Bibles. Learn why.
Translation
- Known and suspected fake words and phrases commonly included in popular translations are
[greyed-out], followed by a link to our spurious texts article. - Alternative translations and editor notes appear [like this].
- Text that’s missing from our source manuscript, but filled in from another source, is marked with [[double brackets]].
- Prophetic books often include not two, but three voices: That of the prophet, the messenger (often called the Lord), and God Himself. Most other translations do not understand this, causing confusion. Learn more.
- Where text appears to be poetry (or was translated from poetry), we’ve tried to recreate a poetic cadence. Learn more.
- All circumlocutions for God’s Name appear as '[Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord”'. You can change this to '[Yahweh]' or “Lord” in your settings.
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- The original texts had no chapter or verse numbers, paragraph breaks, line breaks, margins, punctuation, or capital letters. These are all added for clarity, but be aware that they can sometimes subtly alter the meaning. Learn more.
- Words [inserted] by the translator for clarity are always in [brackets]. These are not part of the original source text. Learn more.
1
1This is the vision of ObadiAh.
[Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord” God spoke this against Edom.
I heard this report from [Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord”, and it’s a summary of what He sent to the nations:
‘Look! Arise against her in battle!
2‘Among the nations, I’ve left you just few,
And upon you, I’ve brought much disgrace.
3For, you have made your hearts proud
By camping in cracks in high rocks;
And you have said in your hearts:
‘From here, who can drag us down to the ground?’
4‘But if you could fly as high as an eagle
And put your nest up in the stars…
From there, I would lead you back down,’ says [Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord”.
5‘Now if thieves were to enter among you,
Or robbers were to come during the night;
[How many things] would you lose?
Wouldn’t they take just the things [that they want]?
And if those who [steal] grapes came among you,
Wouldn’t they leave you a gleaning?
6‘But, there will come those who will search Esau through
And take even the things that you’ve hidden away.
7Then, to your borders, they’ll drive you,
Where your allies will fight against you and win…
Yes, men you’re at peace with
Will then rise up against you,
And they won’t understand why they did this.
8‘So, in that day,’ says [Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord”,
‘I’ll destroy all of Edom’s wise men.
And thereafter, in the mountains of Esau,
Understanding will be gone from the land.
9‘For they’ll frighten your Temanite warriors;
And then, from the mountains of Esau,
Every man will be carried away.
10‘Because you’ve been so defiant
And brought slaughter to Jacob, your brother;
With shame, you will be covered,
And throughout ages thereafter, you will be gone.
11‘For, from the day that you faced and opposed them
To the day that strangers captured their army
And foreigners entered their gates,
Who then cast lots for JeruSalem’s spoils,
You were considered to be one of them.
12‘So you shouldn’t have [sneered at] your brothers
On the day that those strangers arrived…
You shouldn’t have rejoiced at their downfall,
And [approved of the killing] of Judah’s sons.
‘You shouldn’t have [laughed] in the day of their pain,
13And you shouldn’t have entered their gates
On that day of their misery!
‘Especially so, you should never have looked
Upon them in joy at their ruin.
Nor should you have joined to attack them
In the day that they were destroyed.
14‘In their mountain passes, you shouldn’t have stood
To destroy those who tried to escape…
No, you shouldn’t have locked up those fleeing
In their day of affliction.
15‘But now, the Day of the Lord has arrived
Upon all those nations [that did this].
So, all of the [bad] that you did to them
Is what they’ll now do to you…
What you did will come upon your own heads!
16‘So, as you drank wine on My Holy Mountain,
The nations will drink wine from you…
Yes, they will swallow you down,
And it will be like you never existed.
17‘But salvation will come to Mount Zion,
And My Holy Place will stand there again.
Then the house of Jacob will inherit
All those who have inherited them!
18‘Like the fire that came upon Jacob’s house
And the flames that came upon JoSeph…
Like stubble, they’ll burn the house of Esau,
Yes among them, the fire will burn and consume,
And there’ll be no wheat harvest in Esau!
For I, [Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord”, have spoken.
19‘At that time, the Mountains of Esau
Will be owned by those in the Negev.
And those who live in the Philistine ShepheLa
Will inherit Ephraim’s mountains,
Along with Samaria and BenJamin’s plains,
And all of GileAd’s land.
20‘For the sons of IsraEl who will then return
Will inherit all of your land
From CanaAn, all the way to ZarEphath.
And those who return to JeruSalem
Will inherit the Negev to EphRatha.
21‘So the survivors [who return to] Mount Zion
Will take vengeance on the mountains of Esau,
And then your kingdom will belong to [Jehovah][Yahweh]“Lord”!’
Public Domain
This particular version of the translated text is public domain.
It will soon be replaced with a significantly updated version which will be freely available under a Creative Commons license.