Obadiah 1:15

“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 

"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.

"For the day of the LORD draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.

"The day is near when I, the LORD, will judge the godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be done to you. All your evil deeds will fall back on your own heads.

"GOD's Judgment Day is near for all the godless nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. What you did will boomerang back and hit your own head.

For the day of the Lord is coming quickly on all nations: as you have done it will be done to you; the reward of your acts will come on your head.

For the day of the LORD is near against all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your own head.

"For the day of the LORD upon all the nations is near; As you have done, it shall be done to you; Your reprisal shall return upon your own head.

“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 

¹ sn The term יוֹם (yom, “day”) is repeated ten times in vv. 11-14 referring to the time period when Judah/Jerusalem suffered calamity which Edom exploited for its own sinful gain. In each of those cases יוֹם was qualified by a following genitive to describe Judah’s plight, e.g., “in the day of your brother’s calamity” (v. 12). Here it appears again but now followed by the divine name to describe the time of God’s judgment against Edom for its crimes against humanity: “the day of the Lord.” In the present translation, the expression בְּיוֹם (bÿyom; literally, “In the day of”) was rendered “When…” in vv. 11-14. However, here it is translated more literally because the expression “the day of the Lord” is a well-known technical expression for a time of divine intervention in judgment. While this expression sometimes refers to the final eschatological day of God’s judgment, it may also refer occasionally to historical acts of judgment.

² tn Heb “near” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “is coming soon.”

³ sn God’s judgment would not be confined to Edom. Edom would certainly be punished in just measure for its wrongdoing, but “the day of the Lord” would also encompass judgment of the nations (v. 15).

⁴ tn Heb “your deed will return on your own head.” Verses 15 and 16 provide an example of ironic reversal, whereby the tables are turned and poetic justice is served. This is a motif that is common in prophetic oracles against foreign nations.