Obadiah Chapter 1
Showing all 21 verses for Obadiah Chapter 1.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle. "
"This is the vision Obadiah saw. This is what the Lord GOD says about Edom: we have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent out to the nations, saying, "Get up, let's go to war against her.""
I never promise anyone a free pass forever. If you've hurt someone and gotten away with it so far, that silence isn't approval - it's patience. Use whatever time you have left to make things right, rather than assuming the quiet means it's forgotten.
"Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised. "
"Look - I have made you small among the nations; you are treated with contempt."
Whatever makes you feel untouchable - money, reputation, a strong position - isn't actually protection if you're using it to look down on people. I'd rather you feel small and humble now, by choice, than have life humble you later without your permission.
"The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? "
"Your own pride has fooled you - you who live up in the mountain crags, high and secure, telling yourself, "No one can ever bring me down here.""
Security that comes from height, walls, or status can quietly convince you that you don't need to answer to anyone. I'm not against strength - I'm against the lie that strength means you're beyond correction. Stay reachable, stay honest with yourself, however high you climb.
"Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD. "
"Even if you soar as high as an eagle, even if you build your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there, says the LORD."
No promotion, no fortune, no follower count puts you outside the reach of truth and consequence. I'd rather you build your life on something solid - honesty, kindness, fairness - than on altitude, because altitude always eventually gives way.
"If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes? "
"If thieves broke into your house, or robbers came in the night, they'd only take what they wanted and leave the rest - wouldn't they? If grape-pickers came through your vineyard, they'd leave a few grapes behind. But you - you'll be stripped completely bare."
Even people doing something wrong usually have some limit, some scrap of decency left. When a person or a system shows none at all - takes everything, leaves nothing for anyone else - that's a warning sign worth taking seriously, in others and in yourself.
"How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden things sought up! "
"How thoroughly Esau's hidden treasures have been searched out and dug up!"
What you keep hidden doesn't stay hidden forever - not from life, and not from truth. That's not meant to frighten you; it's an invitation to live in a way you wouldn't mind having brought into the light.
"All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him. "
"All your allies will turn on you and drive you out to your own border; the nations that were at peace with you will trick you and overpower you; the very people who shared meals with you will set a trap beneath your feet, and you won't even see it coming."
How you treat the people close to you sets a pattern, and patterns have a way of coming back around. If you want loyal people in your life, be one first - trust is built by being trustworthy, not demanded from others while you withhold it yourself.
"Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau? "
""On that day," declares the LORD, "will I not destroy the wise men of Edom, and wipe out understanding from Esau's mountain?""
Being smart and being good aren't the same thing, and only one of them holds up under real pressure. I'd rather you have less cleverness and more honesty, because wisdom without love is just cleverness looking for an excuse.
"And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter. "
"Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, so that everyone on Esau's mountain is cut down in the slaughter."
Real courage isn't about muscle or bravado - it's about having nothing to hide and nothing to fear from the truth. Live in a way that keeps your conscience clean, and you'll find you can stand firm when it actually matters.
"For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever. "
"Because of the violence you did to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will be wiped out forever."
The people closest to you - family, old friends, anyone who has shared your history - deserve your loyalty most, not least. Betraying someone precisely because you know them well, and know they'll struggle to defend themselves against you, is one of the ugliest things a person can do. Don't let closeness become the thing you exploit.
"In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou wast as one of them. "
"On the day you stood back and did nothing - the day strangers carried off his wealth, foreigners marched through his gates, and they cast lots over Jerusalem - you were no different from any of them."
Staying silent or staying out of it when someone you know is in real trouble isn't neutral - it's a choice, and it has moral weight. I'm not asking you to fight everyone's battles, but when you can help someone who's down and you choose to just watch, you've already picked a side.
"But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. "
"You should not have gloated over your brother on the day of his misfortune; you should not have celebrated over the people of Judah on the day of their ruin; you should not have spoken arrogantly on the day of their distress."
It's tempting to feel a flash of satisfaction when someone who's wronged you, or simply someone you envy, has a hard time. I'm asking you to resist that. Real character shows in how you feel and speak about someone else's pain, not just in how you act - so choose empathy over gloating, every time.
"Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; "
"You should not have marched through my people's gates on the day of their disaster; you should not have stared at their suffering on that day, nor grabbed their belongings while they were down."
There's a particular kind of wrong in seeing someone at their lowest and thinking, "what can I get out of this?" instead of "how can I help?" Whatever you gain that way never really belongs to you - it's built on someone else's worst day, and that never sits well in the long run.
"Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. "
"You should not have stood at the crossroads to cut down those trying to escape, and you should not have handed over the survivors to the enemy in their time of trouble."
How you treat a stranger who is frightened and running from harm tells you exactly who you are. I ask you to be the person who opens a door for someone fleeing trouble, not the one who blocks the road or turns them in. That instinct to protect the vulnerable, especially those with nothing left, is close to the centre of everything I teach.
"For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. "
"The day of reckoning is coming soon for all the nations. What you have done will be done to you; your own actions will come back on your own head."
This is the golden rule stated as a warning as much as a promise: treat others the way you'd want to be treated, because sooner or later, that's the treatment that circles back to you. Live in a way you'd be glad to have mirrored back at you.
"For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. "
"Just as you drank on my holy mountain, celebrating, so all the nations will drink continually too - they will drink it down until it's as if they had never existed."
Celebrating a temporary win at someone else's cost never turns out to be the real ending - there's always a next chapter. I'd rather you build lasting good than momentary victory, because only what's built with care actually lasts.
"But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. "
"But on Mount Zion there will be safety, and it will be holy; and the house of Jacob will reclaim what belongs to them."
If you've had something taken from you unfairly - dignity, security, trust, a piece of your life - this is a promise that loss doesn't have to be the final word. Healing and restoration are real possibilities, even if they take time to arrive.
"And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it. "
"Jacob's house will be a fire, Joseph's house a flame, and Esau's house will be like dry straw; they will set it alight and burn it up completely, until nothing is left of Esau's house at all. The LORD has spoken it."
Cruelty and betrayal tend to consume the people who practise them, in the end, just as thoroughly as they consumed their victims. I'm not telling you this to make you feel triumphant about anyone else's downfall - I'm telling you so you take seriously how you choose to treat people while you still have the choice.
"And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead. "
"People from the south will take over Esau's mountain country; people from the lowlands will take Philistine territory; and they will possess the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, while Benjamin will possess Gilead."
Promises about the future mean more when they're specific and grounded, not just vague comfort. I want you to trust that setbacks in your life aren't the final chapter - real, concrete restoration is possible, even in the exact places you lost the most.
"And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south. "
"The exiles of Israel will possess the land of the Canaanites as far as Zarephath; and the exiles of Jerusalem, scattered in Sepharad, will possess the towns of the south."
If you've ever felt exiled from where you belong - cut off from home, family, or a place you love - know that displacement isn't meant to be the end of your story. Coming home, and being restored to where you belong, is still possible.
"And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’s. "
"Deliverers will go up to Mount Zion to rule over Esau's mountain; and the kingdom will belong to the LORD."
This whole short book comes down to one thing: nothing built on pride, domination, or looking down on others actually lasts - only what's built on love, humility and belonging to something bigger than yourself endures. Let go of the need to control everything and to feel untouchable. Real security was never found on the highest cliff; it's found in trusting what's genuinely lasting.