I declare in the heat of my anger that on that day there will be a severe earthquake in the land of Israel.

because the LORD your God is like a flaming fire; he tolerates no rivals.

The LORD will come with fire. He will ride on the wings of a storm to punish those he is angry with.

By fire and sword he will punish all the people of the world whom he finds guilty---and many will be put to death.

"Just wait," the LORD says. "Wait for the day when I rise to accuse the nations. I have made up my mind to gather nations and kingdoms in order to let them feel the force of my anger. The whole earth will be destroyed by the fire of my fury.

and I am very angry with the nations that enjoy quiet and peace. For while I was holding back my anger against my people, those nations made the sufferings of my people worse.

"Prophesy, then, and announce what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying. When the neighboring nations captured and plundered the mountains of Israel, everyone made fun of Israel.

'I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the LORD, have spoken.

The LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, "Here is a wine cup filled with my anger. Take it to all the nations to whom I send you, and make them drink from it.

So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, gave it to all the nations to whom the LORD had sent me, and made them drink from it.

Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup: the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders; all the Egyptians and all the foreigners in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod; all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the Mediterranean lands; the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz; all the people who cut their hair short; all the kings of Arabia; all the kings of the desert tribes; all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media; all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another. Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it.

(SEE 25:19)

(SEE 25:19)

(SEE 25:19)

Then the LORD said to me, "Tell the people that I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, am commanding them to drink until they are drunk and vomit, until they fall down and cannot get up, because of the war that I am sending against them.

I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.

The LORD Almighty says, "I have heard the people of Moab and Ammon insulting and taunting my people, and boasting that they would seize their land.

That is how the people of Moab and Ammon will be punished for their pride and arrogance and for insulting the people of the LORD Almighty.

The Sovereign LORD said, "Because Moab has said that Judah is like all the other nations,

I will let the tribes of the eastern desert conquer Moab, together with Ammon, so that Moab will no longer be a nation.

The Sovereign LORD said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom.

My people Israel will take revenge on Edom for me, and they will make Edom feel my furious anger. Edom will know what it means to be the object of my revenge." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

The LORD spoke to me.

Tell the people what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying: "I am your enemy, mountains of Edom! I will make you a desolate wasteland.

"You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins.

I will make the hill country of Edom a wasteland and kill everyone who travels through it.

I will make you desolate forever, and no one will live in your cities again. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign LORD, am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them.

I have heard the wild, boastful way you have talked against me."

just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD."

Remember, LORD, what the Edomites did the day Jerusalem was captured. Remember how they kept saying, "Tear it down to the ground!"

Come, people of all nations! Gather around and listen. Let the whole earth and everyone living on it come here and listen.

Their corpses will not be buried, but will lie there rotting and stinking; and the mountains will be red with blood.

The LORD has prepared his sword in heaven, and now it will strike Edom, those people whom he has condemned to destruction.

The people will fall like wild oxen and young bulls, and the earth will be red with blood and covered with fat.

The rivers of Edom will turn into tar, and the soil will turn into sulfur. The whole country will burn like tar.

Owls and ravens will take over the land. The LORD will make it a barren waste again, as it was before the creation.

Thorns and thistles will grow up in all the palaces and walled towns, and jackals and owls will live in them.

Owls will build their nests, lay eggs, hatch their young, and care for them there. Vultures will gather there, one after another.

It is the LORD who will divide the land among them and give each of them a share. They will live in the land age after age, and it will belong to them forever.

"Who is this coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom? Who is this so splendidly dressed in red, marching along in power and strength?" It is the LORD, powerful to save, coming to announce his victory.

The LORD answers, "I have trampled the nations like grapes, and no one came to help me. I trampled them in my anger, and their blood has stained all my clothing.

I was amazed when I looked and saw that there was no one to help me. But my anger made me strong, and I won the victory myself.

This is what the LORD Almighty said about Edom: "Have the people of Edom lost their good judgment? Can their advisers no longer tell them what to do? Has all their wisdom disappeared?

When people pick grapes, they leave a few on the vines, and when robbers come at night, they take only what they want.

Leave your orphans with me, and I will take care of them. Your widows can depend on me.

I myself have sworn that the city of Bozrah will become a horrifying sight and a desert; people will make fun of it and use its name as a curse. All the nearby villages will be in ruins forever. I, the LORD, have spoken."

The LORD is going to make you weak, and no one will respect you.

The LORD said, "The destruction that will come on Edom will be so terrible that everyone who passes by will be shocked and terrified.

Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan River up to the green pasture land, I will come and make the Edomites run away suddenly from their country. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me?

When Edom falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard as far away as the Gulf of Aqaba.

Laugh on, people of Edom and Uz; be glad while you can. Your disaster is coming too; you too will stagger naked in shame.

The LORD says, "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die.

So I will send fire upon the city of Teman and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah."

This is the prophecy of Obadiah---what the Sovereign LORD said about the nation of Edom. The LORD has sent his messenger to the nations, and we have heard his message: "Get ready! Let us go to war against Edom!"

Your pride has deceived you. Your capital is a fortress of solid rock; your home is high in the mountains, and so you say to yourself, 'Who can ever pull me down?'

"When thieves come at night, they take only what they want. When people gather grapes, they always leave a few. But your enemies have wiped you out completely.

Your allies have deceived you; they have driven you from your country. People who were at peace with you have now conquered you. Those friends who ate with you have laid a trap for you; they say of you, 'Where is all that cleverness he had?'

The fighting men of Teman will be terrified, and every soldier in Edom will be killed.

The LORD says to his people, "I have always loved you." But they reply, "How have you shown your love for us?" The LORD answers, "Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants,

If Esau's descendants, the Edomites, say, "Our towns have been destroyed, but we will rebuild them," then the LORD will reply, "Let them rebuild---I will tear them down again. People will call them 'The evil country' and 'The nation with whom the LORD is angry forever.' "

"You said that the two nations, Judah and Israel, together with their lands, belonged to you and that you would possess them, even though I, the LORD, was their God.

Then you will know that I, the LORD, heard you say with contempt that the mountains of Israel were desolate and that they were yours to devour.

"Come," they say, "let us destroy their nation, so that Israel will be forgotten forever."

the people of Edom and the Ishmaelites; the people of Moab and the Hagrites;

Assyria has also joined them as a strong ally of the Ammonites and Moabites, the descendants of Lot.

You defeated them at Endor, and their bodies rotted on the ground.

who said, "We will take for our own the land that belongs to God."

This is what the LORD said about Ammon: "Where are the men of Israel? Is there no one to defend their land? Why have they let the people who worship Molech take the territory of the tribe of Gad and settle there?

just as you rejoiced at the devastation of Israel, my own possession. The mountains of Seir, yes, all the land of Edom, will be desolate. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD."

If you make fun of poor people, you insult the God who made them. You will be punished if you take pleasure in someone's misfortune.

Don't be glad when your enemies meet disaster, and don't rejoice when they stumble.

The LORD will know if you are gloating, and he will not like it; and then maybe he won't punish them.

You should not have gloated over the misfortune of your relatives in Judah. You should not have been glad on the day of their ruin. You should not have laughed at them in their distress.

Our enemies have no reason to gloat over us. We have fallen, but we will rise again. We are in darkness now, but the LORD will give us light.

The Sovereign LORD said, "The people of Edom took cruel revenge on Judah, and that revenge has brought lasting guilt on Edom.

The Sovereign LORD said, "The Philistines have taken cruel revenge on their agelong enemies and destroyed them in their hate.

The LORD says, "The people of Edom have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They hunted down their relatives, the Israelites, and showed them no mercy. Their anger had no limits, and they never let it die.