Eze 35 | EE | STEP | The LORD spoke to me:

Ezekiel 35

A prophecy against Edom

1 The LORD spoke to me:

2 ‘Son of man, look towards Mount Seir. Then you must prophesy against it. 3 Say: This is what the LORD God says: I am against you, Mount Seir. I will attack you and I will make you a desert. 4 I will destroy your towns and nobody will live there. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ^{▼▼35:4 Mount Seir is another name for Edom. The people in Edom were the children of Esau. He was Jacob’s brother. They were their cousins but they were enemies of Israel.}

5 ‘You continued to hate Israel’s people for many years. Before, I punished them and they had no friends. But you let people attack them with swords. 6 So I make this promise to you. I will surely do this. Your blood will fall to the ground. You will run away from your enemies but you will still die. You were not afraid to kill people, so I will not be afraid to kill you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a desert where nobody lives. No longer will anyone visit it. 8 Dead bodies will cover your mountains. Men that enemies’ swords have killed will lie on your hills. And their bodies will lie in your valleys. 9 I will make you into a desert for all time. Nobody will live in your towns. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

10 You say, “We will take these two nations (Israel and Judah) and then they will become ours. We will take them, even if the LORD is there.”

11 So I will surely punish you’, says the LORD God.

‘You hurt them because you were angry. You hated them. I will hurt you in the same way that you hurt them. My people will know me when I judge you. 12 Then you will know this. I, the LORD have heard all the bad things that you have said. You spoke about the mountains of Israel “Men have made them into a desert. We can take them for ourselves.” 13 You said bad things about me. You said that I had only a little power. And you said that I could not help my people. And I heard you say it.’

14 So this is what the LORD God says: ‘I will make you a desert. All the nations will see this and they will be very happy. 15 You were happy when you saw me punish Israel. You were happy when Israel became a desert. Because you were happy, I will make your country a desert. Mount Seir and all the country of Edom will become an empty desert. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’