1:17 But on Mount Zion there will be a remnant of those who escape, 1
and it will be a holy place once again.
The descendants 2 of Jacob will conquer 3
those who had conquered them. 4
1:18 The descendants of Jacob will be a fire,
and the descendants of Joseph a flame.
The descendants of Esau will be like stubble.
They will burn them up and devour them.
There will not be a single survivor 5 of the descendants of Esau!”
Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.
1 tn Heb “will be a fugitive.” This is a collective singular. Cf. NCV “some will escape the judgment.”
2 tn Heb “house” (so most English versions); NCV, TEV “the people of Jacob.” The word “house” also occurs four times in v. 18.
3 tn Heb “dispossess.” This root is repeated in the following line to emphasize poetic justice: The punishment will fit the crime.
4 tc The present translation follows the reading מוֹרִשֵׁיהֶם (morishehem; literally, “those dispossessing them”; cf. NAB, NRSV, CEV) rather than מוֹרָשֵׁיהֶם (morashehem, “their possessions”) of the MT (cf. LXX, Syriac, and Vg, followed by KJV, ASV, NASB).
5 tn Heb “will be no survivor”; NAB “none shall survive.”