Obadiah 1 |
1 The vision of Obadiah. This is what the Sovereign LORD says about Edom� We have heard a message from the LORD: An envoy was sent to the nations to say, "Rise, let us go against her for battle"�
2 "See, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.
3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?'
4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down," declares the LORD.
5 "If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night� oh, what a disaster awaits you� would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you, would they not leave a few grapes?
6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged!
7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.
8 "In that day," declares the LORD, "will I not destroy the wise in Edom, people of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
9 Your warriors, Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau's mountains will be cut down in the slaughter.
10 Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.
11 On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them.
12 You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.
13 You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster, nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.
14 You should not wait at the crossroads to cut down their fugitives, nor hand over their survivors in the day of their trouble.
15 "The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drank on my holy hill, so all the nations will drink continually; they will drink and drink and be as if they had never been.
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and the house of Jacob will possess its inheritance.
18 The house of Jacob will be a fire and the house of Joseph a flame; the house of Esau will be stubble, and they will set it on fire and consume it. There will be no survivors from the house of Esau." The LORD has spoken.
19 People from the Negev will occupy the mountains of Esau, and people from the foothills will possess the land of the Philistines. They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria, and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan will possess the land?as far as Zarephath; the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will possess the towns of the Negev.
21 Deliverers will go up on Mount Zion to govern the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will be the LORD's.
Today’s New International Version (TNIV)
Today’s New International Version (TNIV) is a contemporary English translation of the Bible that was first published in its complete form in 2005 by the International Bible Society, now known as Biblica. The TNIV is a revision of the New International Version (NIV), which was initially released in 1978. The primary goal of the TNIV was to update the language and address gender inclusivity while maintaining the readability and accuracy that made the NIV popular. The translation aimed to reflect contemporary English usage and to be accessible to a broad audience, including both men and women.
One of the key features of the TNIV is its commitment to gender-inclusive language. The translators sought to avoid gender-specific terms where the original texts did not explicitly require them, thereby making the text more inclusive and reflective of modern linguistic sensibilities. For example, where the original Greek or Hebrew text used terms that referred to both men and women, the TNIV translated them in a gender-neutral manner. This approach aimed to make the Bible more accessible and relatable to all readers, ensuring that no one felt excluded by the language used.
The TNIV also made several other updates to enhance clarity and readability. The translators incorporated the latest biblical scholarship and linguistic research to ensure that the translation accurately conveyed the meaning of the original texts. They aimed to strike a balance between maintaining the formal equivalence of the original languages and using dynamic equivalence to make the text more understandable for contemporary readers. This involved updating archaic words and phrases, improving sentence structures, and clarifying ambiguous passages without losing the essence of the original scriptures.
Despite its strengths, the TNIV faced significant controversy and criticism, particularly from conservative Christian groups and scholars. Critics argued that the gender-inclusive language could potentially distort the intended meaning of the biblical texts and that the changes were driven more by cultural trends than by faithful adherence to the original manuscripts. The debate over the TNIV’s translation choices led to its eventual discontinuation, with Biblica deciding to focus on updating the NIV instead. However, the TNIV’s influence can still be seen in subsequent revisions of the NIV, which have incorporated some of the gender-inclusive principles and linguistic updates introduced by the TNIV.