Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Though you mount on high as the eagle, and though your nest is set among the stars, I will bring you down from there,” says Yahweh.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Though you ascend as high as the eagle, And though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” says the Lord.
- NASB “Though you make your home high like the eagle, Though you set your nest among the stars, From there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
- NLT But even if you soar as high as eagles and build your nest among the stars, I will bring you crashing down,” says the Lord.
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
Even if Edom soared as high as an eagle or nested among the stars, God declares he will bring her down.
Overview
Using vivid hyperbole, the Lord answers Edom's boast by asserting that no height of security can place a nation beyond his reach. The eagle and the stars picture the loftiest imaginable safety, yet all are subject to Yahweh, who alone is truly exalted. This echoes the broader biblical truth that human exaltation against God ends in being cast down, while genuine exaltation belongs to the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Hab 2:9Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
- Isa 14:12–15How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
- Amos 9:2Though they dig down to Sheol, from there My hand will take them; and though they climb up to heaven, from there I will pull them down.
- Job 20:6–7Though his arrogance reaches the heavens, and his head touches the clouds,
- Jer 49:16The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks, O occupiers of the mountain summit. Though you elevate your nest like the eagle, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD.
- Jer 51:53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.
- Job 39:27–28Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The day of the LORD against proud Edom and the promise that 'the kingdom shall be the LORD's' anticipate the final reign of Christ over every hostile power.
How Obadiah 1:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.