Though Edom may say, “We have been devastated, but we will rebuild the ruins,” this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Land of Wickedness, and a people with whom the LORD is indignant forever.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whereas Edom says, “We are beaten down, but we will return and build the waste places”; Yahweh of Armies says, “They shall build, but I will throw down; and men will call them ‘The Wicked Land,’ even the people against whom Yahweh shows wrath forever.”
- KJV Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
- NKJV Even though Edom has said, “We have been impoverished, But we will return and build the desolate places,” Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever.
- NASB Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; this is what the Lord of armies says: “They may build, but I will tear down; and people will call them the territory of wickedness, and the people with whom the Lord is indignant forever.”
- NLT Esau’s descendants in Edom may say, “We have been shattered, but we will rebuild the ruins.” But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies replies, “They may try to rebuild, but I will demolish them again. Their country will be known as ‘The Land of Wickedness,’ and their people will be called ‘The People with Whom the Lord Is Forever Angry.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Though Edom vows to rebuild its ruins, God declares He will tear them down again, marking them as a wicked people under His lasting wrath.
Overview
Edom's defiant determination to rebuild cannot overcome God's settled judgment against it. Where Israel was chastened yet preserved, Edom faces enduring desolation, illustrating the difference between covenant discipline and covenant rejection. The passage warns that human resolve is powerless against divine purpose and underscores how precious God's preserving grace toward His people truly is.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Ezek 25:14I will take My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people Israel, and they will deal with Edom according to My anger and wrath. Then they will know My vengeance, declares the Lord GOD.’
- Ezek 35:9I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
- Ps 127:1A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
- Ezek 11:10You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
- Isa 10:15–16Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- Lam 4:21–22So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Isa 11:14They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west; together they will plunder the sons of the east. They will lay their hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them.
- Isa 34:5When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
- Lam 3:37Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
- Isa 63:1–6Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
- Isa 9:9–10All the people will know it—Ephraim and the dwellers of Samaria. With pride and arrogance of heart they will say:
- Jer 31:17So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.
- Job 12:14What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
- Isa 10:4Nothing will remain but to crouch among the captives or fall among the slain. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.
- Jas 4:13–16Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
- Amos 6:2Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
- Job 9:4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
- Isa 34:10It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.
- Mal 1:3but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
- Job 34:29But when He remains silent, who can condemn Him? When He hides His face, who can see Him? Yet He watches over both man and nation,
- Prov 21:30There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Ps 137:7Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom on the day Jerusalem fell: “Destroy it,” they said, “tear it down to its foundations!”
- Matt 12:30He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
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