Yehezkiel 25:12-14

A Prophecy Against Edom

25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom ¹  has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable ²  by taking vengeance ³  on them. ⁴  25:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and I will kill the people and animals within her, ⁵  and I will make her desolate; from Teman to Dedan they will die ⁶  by the sword. 25:14 I will exact my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will carry out in Edom my anger and rage; they will experience ⁷  my vengeance, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Zakharia 1:15

1:15 But I am greatly displeased with the nations that take my grace for granted. ⁸  I was a little displeased with them, but they have only made things worse for themselves.

[25:12]  ¹ sn Edom was located south of Moab.

[25:12]  ² tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.

[25:12]  ³ tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”

[25:12]  ⁴ sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6 b.c. (Ps 137:7; Lam 5:21, 23; Joel 3:19; Obadiah).

[25:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I will cut off from her man and beast.”

[25:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “fall.”

[25:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “know.”

[1:15]  ⁸ tn Or “the nations that are at ease” (so ASV, NRSV). The Hebrew word in question is שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan) which has the idea of a careless, even arrogant attitude (see BDB 983 s.v. שַׁאֲנָן); cf. NAB “the complacent nations.” Here it suggests that the nations take for granted that God will never punish them just because he hasn't already done so. Thus they presume on the grace and patience of the Lord. The translation attempts to bring out this nuance rather than the more neutral renderings of TEV “nations that enjoy quiet and peace” or NLT “enjoy peace and security.”