About the Book of Obadiah
The book called Obadiah is in the Old Testament. The events in the Old Testament happened during a long time. All that time, there were many wars between the Israelites and the people from Edom. Genesis chapter 27 and Numbers 20:14-21 tell us why these wars happened. God gives to Obadiah a message for the Israelites. He does this just after people from Babylon have destroyed Jerusalem. People from Edom helped those people from Babylon. So God is angry with the people from Edom. And he warns them that he is angry. He warns them in this message that God gives to Obadiah. In the message, God also tells the Israelites that he remembers them. And he remembers what the people from Edom did. God tells the Israelites that he will punish the people from Edom.Obadiah
God will punish Edom‘s people
1God, who is the LORD, gave a message to Obadiah. The message is about Edom. This is the message from the LORD to the Israelites. We have heard what God said. And someone has taken a message to the countries. ‘Stand up and fight against Edom.’ 2God said to Edom, ‘I will make you small among other people. They will think that you are not worth anything. 3You 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.” 4You may 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,’ says the LORD. 5God 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. 6But people will take everything from Esau’s people (also called Edom). They will even take the valuable things that you hide. 7People 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.’ 8The LORD says, ‘Some men in Edom know what is right. But, at that time, I will kill them. Some men in the mountains know what is good. (These are the mountains where Esau’s people live.) But I will kill those men. 9There 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. 10This 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. ▼▼1:10 Verse 10 The people in Edom were born from Esau. The Israelites were born from Jacob. Jacob and Esau were brothers.
11Men 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 Jews. 12Your 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. 13You 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 was theirs. 14You 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 Jews were still alive, but they were in trouble. You should not have taken them to the enemy. The Day of the LORD and what will happen then
15The Day of the LORD will come soon for all the world’s people. God will do to you what you did to other people. God will be angry with you because you did those things to them. ▼▼1:15 The Day of the LORD is the time when God kills all his people’s enemies. It is when he makes his people strong again.
16You drank on my special hill. In the same way, people from all countries will drink and they will not stop. They will drink until God has killed them. 17But on the mountain called Zion, people will be free. It will be special to me. Jacob’s family will have the country that is theirs. I will give it to them. 18The people in Jacob’s and Joseph’s family will kill all the people that belong to Esau’s family.’ This is what the LORD said. ▼▼1:18 In verses 16-18, God is not speaking to the Jews. He is speaking to the people from Edom.
▼▼1:18 The people from Edom had drunk alcohol in a special place. And they danced there. It was where the Jews prayed to God. It was in Jerusalem city. Another name for Jerusalem was ‘the mountain called Zion’. God is saying that he will punish them. It will be like when people drink poison. It will be like a drink that contains God’s anger. But they will not be able to stop drinking. They will drink until God’s anger has killed them all.
19People will come from the Negev. They will come to live in the mountains where Esau’s people (the people in Edom) lived. People will come from the small hills near the mountain. And they will get the Philistines‘country. They will live in the fields in Ephraim and Samaria. Benjamin’s people will get Gilead. 20Some people lived in Israel, but they now have to live with the Canaanites. They will get the country as far as Zarephath. Some people lived in Jerusalem, but now they have to be in Sepharad. They will get the towns in the Negev. Men will come to make Jerusalem free and they will rule over Edom. And that country will belong to the LORD. 21End note ▼▼1:21 God says that he will give to Judah’s people the country that belonged to their enemies. God does not forget his people. He does not forget what their enemies did. And he will kill all their enemies. God says that he will save his people and he will make them strong again.
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