Obadiah 1:16 (LSB)

Passage

Because just as you all drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow, And they will be as if they never were.

Nearby Context

Obadiah 1:14 Do not stand at the fork of the road To cut down those among them who escape; And do not deliver over their survivors In the day of their distress.

Obadiah 1:15 “For the day of Yahweh draws near on all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.

Obadiah 1:16 Because just as you all drank on My holy mountain, All the nations will drink continually. They will drink and swallow, And they will be as if they never were.

Obadiah 1:17 But on Mount Zion there will be those who escape, And it will be holy. And the house of Jacob will possess their possessions.

Obadiah 1:18 Then the house of Jacob will be a fire And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau will be as stubble. And they will set them on fire and consume them So that there will be no survivor of the house of Esau,” For Yahweh has spoken.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "just", "drank", "holy", "mountain", "nations", "drink", and "continually". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "just" and "drank", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "For the day of Yahweh draws near..." into verse 17's "But on Mount Zion there will be...", so "just" and "drank" belong inside that flow. In Obadiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "just" and "drank" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.