Prophecy against Mount Seir
35 A message came to me from the Lord and it went like this: 2 “Son of Man, turn your attention[a] toward Mount Seir[b] and begin to prophesy against it. 3 Tell them,[c] ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Watch out! I’m coming to get you, Mount Seir!
I’m stretching out my hand to strike you,
and I’m going to turn you into a desolate wasteland.
4 I’m going to turn your cities into ghost towns,
and you will become a ruin.
Then you will learn
that I am the Lord.
5 “Because of your undying hatred, you kept on making the Israelis experience abuse[d] during the time of their calamity, even when they were in their final stages[e] of punishment, 6 therefore as I’m alive and living,” declares the Lord God, “I’m turning you over to bloodshed,[f] and bloodshed will certainly overtake you, since you never have hated shedding blood. That’s why bloodshed will certainly pursue you. 7 I’m turning Mount Seir over to ruin and desolation. I’m going to eliminate everyone who comes and goes, 8 and I’ll fill that[g] mountain with the dead. Those who die by violence[h] will cover your hills, and fill your valleys and all your ravines! 9 I will turn you into an everlasting wasteland, and your cities will never be inhabited. Then you’ll learn that I am the Lord!
10 “Because you have claimed, ‘These two nations and these two lands are going to belong to me, and we will take possession of them, even though the Lord is there,’ 11 therefore as I’m alive and living” declares the Lord God, “I’m going to deal with you as your anger deserves. When I judge you, I’ll treat you like you did the Israelis[i]—that is, with the same kind of envy that motivated your constant hatred of them. 12 That’s how you’ll know that I, the Lord, have heard every loathsome, reviling thing that you’ve had to say against the mountains of Israel, such as, ‘They’re desolate, and we’ll eat them for dinner!’ 13 Not only that, you’ve arrogantly reviled me many times over, and I’ve heard every word!
14 “So this is what the Lord God says: ‘Just as the earth rejoices, I’m going to turn you into a desolate wasteland. 15 Just as you rejoiced when Israel’s inheritance became desolate, I’m going to do the same thing to you. Mount Seir, you and Edom—all of you—will become a desolate wasteland.’ Then they will learn that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 35:2 Lit. face
- Ezekiel 35:2 This mountain, the modern Jebel esh-sherá, is located in the mountain range that extends south of the Dead Sea toward the Gulf of Aqaba, and is bordered by the Arabah Valley to the west.
- Ezekiel 35:3 Lit. him; i.e. the city personified as a single person
- Ezekiel 35:5 Lit. to the hand of the sword
- Ezekiel 35:5 Lit. time
- Ezekiel 35:6 The Heb. word blood sounds like Edom, the territory south of the Dead Sea in which Mt. Seir, the modern Jebel esh-sherá, is located
- Ezekiel 35:8 Lit. his
- Ezekiel 35:8 Lit. by the sword
- Ezekiel 35:11 Lit. did them