This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹  one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ²  in order to subdue nations before him, and disarm kings, ³  to open doors before him, so gates remain unclosed:

Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.

(64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood, or fire makes water boil, let your adversaries know who you are, ¹  and may the nations shake at your presence!

“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb ¹  I chose you. ²  Before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

Like a lion that has come up from its lair ¹  the one who destroys nations has set out from his home base. ²  He is coming out to lay your land waste. Your cities will become ruins and lie uninhabited.

The nations will hear of your devastating defeat. ¹  your cries of distress will echo throughout the earth. In the panic of their flight one soldier will trip over another and both of them will fall down defeated.” ² 

I will punish the god Bel in Babylon. I will make him spit out what he has swallowed. The nations will not come streaming to him any longer. Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.” ¹ 

ג (Gimel) Judah ¹  has departed into exile under ²  affliction and harsh oppression. ³  She ⁴  lives among the nations; she has found no resting place. All who pursued her overtook her in ⁵  narrow straits. ⁶ 

But when they arrived in the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name. It was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, yet they have departed from his land.’

Then the nations which remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken – and I will do it!’

Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile ¹  any longer.

The vision ¹  that Obadiah ²  saw. ³  The Lord God ⁴  says this concerning ⁵  Edom: ⁶ We have heard a report from the Lord. An envoy was sent among the nations, saying, ⁷  “Arise! Let us make war against Edom!” ⁸ 

“For the day of the Lord ¹  is approaching ²  for all the nations! ³  Just as you have done, so it will be done to you. You will get exactly what your deeds deserve. ⁴ 

I am against you,” declares the Lord who commands armies. ¹  “I will strip off your clothes! ²  I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms;

“Look at the nations and pay attention! ¹  You will be shocked and amazed! ²  For I will do something in your lifetime ³  that you will not believe even though you are forewarned. ⁴ 

Because you robbed many countries, ¹  all who are left among the nations ²  will rob you. You have shed human blood and committed violent acts against lands, cities, ³  and those who live in them.

‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful ¹  land a waste.”

Then all who survive from all the nations that came to attack Jerusalem will go up annually to worship the King, the Lord who rules over all, and to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. ¹ 

“And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, ¹  and on the earth nations will be in distress, ²  anxious ³  over the roaring of the sea and the surging waves.

Against hope Abraham ¹  believed ²  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ³  according to the pronouncement, ⁴  “so will your descendants be.” ⁵