We can shrink the size of the bushel baskets, increase the cost, and cheat with dishonest scales.

6 We can buy the poor with money and the needy for a pair of sandals.

We can sell the husks mixed in with the wheat."

7 Yahweh has sworn an oath by Jacob's pride: "I will never forget anything that they have done."

8 The land will tremble because of this.

Everyone who lives in it will mourn.

The entire land will rise like the Nile, be tossed about, and then sink like Egypt's river.

9 On that day, declares Adonay Yahweh , I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

10 I will turn your festivals into funerals and all your songs into funeral songs.

I will put sackcloth around everyone's waist and shave everyone's head.

I will make that day seem like a funeral for an only child, and its end will be bitter.

11 The days are going to come, declares Adonay Yahweh , when I will send a famine throughout the land.

It won't be an ordinary famine or drought.

Instead, there will be a famine of hearing the words of Yahweh.

12 People will wander from sea to sea and roam from the north to the east, searching for the word of Yahweh .

But they won't find it.

13 On that day beautiful young women and strong young men will faint because of their thirst.

14 How horrible it will be for those who swear by Ashimah,a the idol of Samaria, and say, "I solemnly swear, Dan, as your god lives. . ."

"I solemnly swear as long as there is a road to Beersheba. . ."

Those who say this will fall and never get up again.

The LORD Will Sift Israel out of All the Nations 9 1 I saw Adonay standing by the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the foundations shake.

Cut off everyone's head.

I will kill with a sword all who are left.

None of them will be able to get away.

None of them will be able to escape.

2 Even if they dig their way into Sheol, my hand will take them from there.

Even if they go up to heaven, I will bring them down from there.

3 Even if they hide on top of Mount Carmel, I will look for them and take them from there.

Even if they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, I will command a sea snake to bite them.

4 Even if they go into exile ahead of their enemies, I will command a sword to kill them.

I will keep my eyes on them so that I can bring disaster on them and not help them.

5 Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth touches the earth.

It quakes, and all who live on it mourn.

All of it rises like the Nile and sinks like Egypt's river.

6 The one who builds stairs up to heaven and sets their foundation on the earth, the one who calls for the water in the sea and pours it over the face of the earth- His name is Yahweh.

7 You people of Israel are like the people from Sudan, says Yahweh.

Didn't I bring Israel from Egypt?

Didn't I bring the Philistines from Crete and the Arameans from Kir?

8 I, Adonay Yahweh , have my eyes on this sinful kingdom.

I will wipe it off the face of the earth.

But I won't totally destroy the descendants of Jacob, declares Yahweh.

9 I'm going to give the order.

I will sift the nation of Israel out of all the nations as if I were using a sieve.

Not one pebble will fall to the ground.

10 All the sinners among my people are thinking, "Destruction will not catch up to us or run into us."

In spite of this, they will be killed with swords.

The LORD Will Restore His People 11 On that day I will set up David's fallen tent.

I will repair the holes in it.

I will restore its ruined places.

I will rebuild them as they were a long time ago.

12 They will capture the few survivors of Edom and all the other nations that were under my authority, declares Yahweh, who will do these things.

13 The days are going to come, declares Yahweh, when the one who plows will catch up to the one who harvests, and the one who stomps on grapes will catch up to the one who plants.

New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.

14 I will restore my people Israel.

They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine from them.

They will plant gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant the people of Israel in their land, and they won't be uprooted again from the land that I gave them, says Yahweh your Elohim .

a 1:3 Threshing is the process of beating stalks to separate them from the grain.

a 3:12 Or "a couch of Damascus."

a 7:12 A seer is a prophet.

b 7:17 "Unclean" refers to anything that Moses' Teachings say is not presentable to God.

a 8:14 Hebrew meaning uncertain.

Introduction to OBADIAH.

In 586 BC when Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem after a devastating siege, he forced many prominent Jews to resettle in Babylon. Nearly fifty years later, the once-mighty Babylonian Empire was in turn conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia. Cyrus thought people should live in their own countries, and he gave the exiled Jews permission to return to Judah. Most likely Obadiah prophesied around the time that Babylonian Jews began planning to return to their ancestral home.

At first glance, Obadiah's short prophecy is puzzling. He mentions his own people, whom he calls by various names-descendants of Jacob, Israel, Joseph, or Benjamin; people from the Negev or the foothills, exiles from Jerusalem-but most of the time, he speaks not to them but to Edom, Judah's neighbor to the south. Edom, he says, you are going to crash and burn.

Edom and Israel had a long and antagonistic history. It began with rivalry between Isaac's twin sons, Jacob (renamed Israel) and Esau (renamed Edom; see Genesis 25:19-34). Hundreds of years later, when the people of Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses politely requested safe passage through the land of Edom. The Edomites responded by attacking the Israelites (Numbers 20:14-21). From then on, skirmishes between Israel (and, after the kingdom divided, Judah) and Edom were frequent.

Obadiah's complaint was serious: even though Edom, Judah, and Israel were neighbors and relatives, Edom gave Judah no help when Babylon attacked. To the contrary, the Edomites gloated over Judah's misfortune, looted their ruined city, and handed survivors over to the enemy. "Yahweh, remember the people of Edom," prayed the psalmist. "Remember what they did the day Jerusalem was captured. They said, 'Tear it down! Tear it down to its foundation'" (Psalm 137:7).

Once again the people of Israel, like their ancestors who followed Moses through the wilderness, were about to enter the Promised Land. Back off, Edom, warned Obadiah. This time "you will be treated as you have treated others. You will get back what you have given" (verse 15). The day of the Lord was near, and God is a just judge. For God's people, this was good news indeed. Edom would be destroyed, and Israel would "take possession of Canaan" (verse 20).

Key Names of God in Obadiah Yahweh LORD Adonay Lord, Master OBADIAH.

1.

Edom's Fall-Jeremiah 49:14-16 1 1 This is the vision of Obadiah.

This is what Adonay Yahweh says about Edom: We have heard a message from Yahweh.

A messenger was sent among the nations to say, "Get ready! Let's go to war against Edom."

2 "Edom, I will make you the smallest of nations.

Others will despise you.

3 Your arrogance has deceived you.

You live on rocky cliffs.

You make your home up high.

You say to yourself, 'No one can bring me down to earth.'

4 Even though you fly high like an eagle and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you down from there," declares Yahweh.

5 "If thieves or looters come to you during the night, won't they steal only until they've had enough?

You will be ruined!

If people come to pick your grapes, won't they leave a few grapes behind?

6 But you, Esau,a will lose everything.

Even your hidden treasures will be looted.

7 All your allies will force you to leave your land.

The people who are at peace with you will deceive you.

Those who eat food with you will set traps for you, and you won't even know about it.

8 "On that day I will destroy the wise people in Edom and take wisdom away from Esau's mountain," declares Yahweh.

9 "Teman, your warriors will be terrified.

Everyone on Esau's mountain will be slaughtered.