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Obadiah Expanded Bible (EXB)

The Lord Will Punish the Edomites

This is the vision of Obadiah.

This is what the Lord God says about Edom [C the Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother (Gen. 25); they were often in conflict with Israel]:
We have heard a ·message [report] from the Lord.
    A ·messenger [envoy] has been sent among the nations, saying,
“·Attack [L Rise up]! Let’s go ·attack [L rise to battle against] Edom!”

The Lord Speaks to the Edomites

“·Soon [L Look; T Behold] I will make you ·the smallest of [or weak among the] nations.
    You will be greatly ·hated [despised] by everyone.
Your pride has ·fooled [deceived] you,
    you who live in the ·hollow places of the cliff [T clefts of the rock].
    Your home is ·up high [on the heights],
you who say to yourself,
    ‘·No one can [L Who can…?] bring me down to the ground.’
Even if you ·fly high [soar] like the eagle
    and make your nest among the stars,
    I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
“You will really be ·ruined [L cut off]!
If thieves came to you,
    if ·robbers [plunderers] came by night,
    they would steal only enough for themselves.
If workers came and picked the grapes from your vines,
    they would leave ·a few behind [some for the poor; the gleanings].
But you, Edom, will ·really lose everything [be cleaned/L searched out]!
    People will find all your hidden treasures!
All ·the people who are your friends [your allies; L the people of your covenant/treaty]
    will force you ·out of the land [L to the border].
The people ·who are at peace with you [or who promised you peace; L of your peace]
    will ·trick [deceive] you and ·defeat [overpower] you.
Those who eat your bread [C indicating fellowship and friendship] with you now
    are planning a trap for you,
and you will ·not notice it [be taken by surprise; have no understanding].”

The Lord says, “On that day
    I will surely destroy the wise people from Edom,
    and those with understanding from the mountains of Edom.
Then, city of Teman, your ·best warriors [mighty men] will be ·afraid [dismayed],
    and everyone from the mountains of Edom will be ·killed [L cut down in the slaughter].
10 You did violence to your ·relatives, the Israelites [L brother Jacob; verse 1; Gen. 25],
    so you will be covered with shame
    and destroyed forever.
11 You stood ·aside without helping [aloof]
    ·while [L on the day] strangers carried Israel’s ·treasures [wealth; or army] away.
When foreigners entered Israel’s city gate
    and threw lots to decide ·what part of Jerusalem they would take [L for Jerusalem],
you were like one of them.

Commands That Edom Broke

12 “Edom, ·do not laugh at [or you should not have gloated over] your ·brother Israel [L brother] in his time of ·trouble [misfortune]
or ·be happy [rejoice] about the ·people [sons; descendants] of Judah ·when they are destroyed [L on the day of destruction].
    Do not ·brag [boast; act with arrogance] ·when cruel things are done to them [L on the day of distress].
13 Do not enter the city gate of my people [C to plunder their goods]
    in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [disaster; C the Hebrew word for “trouble” sounds like Edom]
or ·laugh at their problems [gloat over them]
    in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [disaster].
Do not ·take their treasures [loot their wealth]
    in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [disaster].
14 Do not stand at the crossroads
    to ·destroy [L cut off] ·those who are trying to escape [their fugitives].
Do not capture ·those who escape alive [their survivors] and turn them over to their enemy
    in their ·time [L day] of ·trouble [adversity].

The Nations Will Be Judged

15 “The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] is ·coming soon [near]
    to all the nations.
·The same evil things you did to other people [L As you have done]
    ·will happen [L it will be done] to you;
    ·they [L recompense; reprisal] will come back upon your own head.
16 Because you drank in my ·Temple [L holy mountain],
    all the nations will drink ·on and on [continually].
They will drink and ·drink [L swallow]
    ·until they disappear [L and be as though they were not].
17 But on Mount Zion ·some will escape the judgment [L there will be escape],
    and it will be a holy place.
The ·people [L house] of Jacob will ·take back their land
    from those who ·took it from them [L possess their possessions].
18 The ·people [L house] of Jacob will be like a fire
    and the ·people [L house] of Joseph [C the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons, Jacob’s grandsons), representing the northern kingdom] like a flame.
But the ·people [L house] of Esau [C the Edomites] will be like ·dry stalks [stubble].
    The ·people [L house] of Jacob will set them on fire and burn them up.
There will be no ·one left [survivors] of the ·people [L house] of Esau.”
    ·This will happen because [L For] the Lord has said it.

19 ·Then God’s people will regain southern Judah from Edom;
    they will take back [L The Negev shall possess] the mountains of ·Edom [L Esau].
·They will take back the western hills
    from [L The Shephelah/foothills shall possess] the Philistines.
They will ·regain [possess] the ·lands [L fields] of Ephraim and Samaria,
    and Benjamin will ·take over [possess] Gilead [C east of the Jordan River].
20 ·People from [L This host of the sons/T children of] Israel who once were ·forced to leave their homes [exiled]
    will take the land of the Canaanites,
    all the way to Zarephath [C in Phoenicia in the far northeast].
·People from Judah who once were forced to leave Jerusalem and [L The exiles of Jerusalem who] live in Sepharad [C unknown location, perhaps Sardis (in present-day Turkey)]
    will take back the cities of ·southern Judah [L the Negev].
21 ·Powerful warriors [Deliverers; Saviors; or Those who have been rescued/delivered] will go up on Mount Zion,
    where they will rule ·the people living on Edom’s mountains [L Mount Esau].
And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.


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