Messages about Edom

7 This message is about the Edom people-group. This is what the Commander of the armies of angels says:

“It seems that [RHQ] there are no wise people in Teman district in Edom!

There are no people left who can give others good advice.

The people who were wise [PRS] have disappeared.

8 You people of Dedan city in the south of Edom,

turn and flee and hide in deep caves,

because when I cause the Edom people-group to experience disaster,

I will punish you, too.

9 Those who harvest grapes

always [RHQ] leave some on the vines.

When thieves come at night,

they surely [RHQ] steal only as much as they want.

10 But I will cause everything in Edom to be destroyed, and there will be nothing left,

and there will be no place for people to hide.

Many of [HYP] the children, their relatives and their neighbors, will die,

and Edom will not exist any more.

11 But I will protect the orphans,

and the widows also will be able to depend on me to help them.”

12 And this is also what Yahweh says: “If those who do not deserve to suffer [MET] must suffer, you people of Edom must [RHQ] suffer much more [DOU]! You will not escape being punished. 13 I, Yahweh, have solemnly promised, using my own name, that your chief city Bozrah will become a place that people will be horrified about. It will be a heap of ruins. People will make fun of it and use its name when they curse people. All the nearby towns and villages will be a ruins forever.”

14 I heard this message from Yahweh:

“I have sent an ambassador to many nations,

to tell them to gather together to attack Edom.

They must prepare for battle!”

15 And Yahweh says to the people of Edom,

“I will cause your nation to become very unimportant among the other nations.

They will all despise your country.

16 You have caused people of other nations to be terrified,

and you [MTY] have been very proud,

but you have deceived yourselves.

You live in caves in the rock cliffs;

you think that you are safe there because you live high up there.

But even if you make your homes as high up as the eagles’ nests,

I will cause you to come crashing down.

17 Edom will become a place about which people are horrified;

people who pass by will be horrified and will ◄gasp/be shocked►

when they see the destruction.

18 Edom will be destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns were destroyed long ago.

As a result, no one will live there any more [DOU].

19 I will come to Edom suddenly like [SIM] a lion comes out of the jungle

and leaps on the sheep that are eating in the good pastureland.

I will quickly chase the people of Edom from their land.

And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose;

I can do that because there is no one [RHQ] like me who can object to what I do.

No ruler can oppose me.

20 Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Teman town and the rest of Edom:

Even the little children will be dragged away,

and I will completely get rid of the people [MET] who live there.

21 When Edom is destroyed, the noise will be extremely great,

with the result that the earth will shake,

and the wailing of the people will be heard as far away as the Red Sea.

22 Look! The enemy troops will swoop/rush down over Bozrah

like an eagle spreads its wings when it swoops down to seize an animal.

On that day, even the strongest warriors of Edom will be afraid

like [SIM] a woman who is about to give birth.”