Ezekiel 35 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
shortly after 586 BC, in the aftermath of Jerusalem's destruction
Location
Mount Seir, the rugged highland region south east of the Dead Sea that was the homeland of Edom
Audience
Judean exiles in Babylonia
Situation
A judgment oracle is spoken against Mount Seir, standing for Edom, for holding an ancient grudge and handing Israelites over to the sword at the moment of their disaster. Edom is condemned for saying that the two nations and their lands would now belong to it, and is told its own hill country will be made desolate.
Key Background
Edom and Israel were traditionally reckoned as descendants of the twin brothers Esau and Jacob, so hostility between them was told as a family feud stretching back generations. When Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, Edomites moved into the emptied southern territory of Judah, a land grab remembered bitterly in Psalm 137 and in the short book of Obadiah. Edom's mountain strongholds and control of the trade route through the Arabah made it feel secure, which is why the oracle targets the mountains themselves.
Yahweh's word came to me:
of set your face against Seir and speak against it as a prophet.
Tell it: 'This is what Yahweh, the says: I am against you, Mount Seir. I will stretch out my hand against you and turn you into a
I will reduce your cities to rubble and you yourself will become a wasteland. Then you will that I am
Because you nursed an hatred and handed Israel's people over to the sword at the time of their catastrophe, when their its —
therefore — as I declares Yahweh, the sovereign God — I will hand you over to bloodshed, and will you down. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will you down.
I will turn Mount Seir into a gutted wasteland and who and
I will fill your mountains with your slain. On your hills, in your valleys, in all your ravines — those killed by the sword will fall there.
I will make you a ruin. Your cities will never be inhabited again. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
Because you said, 'These and these lands will be mine — I will take possession of them,' even was there —
therefore — as I live, declares Yahweh, the sovereign God — I will act according to the anger and jealousy you showed because of your hatred toward them. I will make myself known among them when I judge you.
Then you will know that I, Yahweh, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the of Israel, saying, 'They are laid waste — they've been handed to us to
You me with mouth and up me. I heard it all.
This is what Yahweh, the sovereign God, says: While the celebrates, I will make you a wasteland.
Because you celebrated when the of Israel's house became a wasteland, that is exactly what I will do to you. You will become a wasteland, Mount Seir — you and all of every bit of it. Then they will that I am