Bible Strands
Obadiah 1:15
For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Obadiah addresses Edom directly, pivoting from the specific charge of violence against Judah's fugitives (v. 14) to a universal principle of retribution.
The words — kā·rōv (H7138, "near") modifies the Day of the LORD, collapsing any assumption of distance or delay; kə·'ă·šer (H834, "just as") is the hinge that binds Edom's action to its consequence without exception.
The thread — The same retributive logic appears in Habakkuk 2:8 (plunderers plundered), Matthew 7:2 (measure for measure), and James 2:13 (judgment without mercy for the unmerciful).
Why it lands — The verse offers no appeal, no conditional, no window for repentance; it states that Edom's own method is the mechanism of its destruction, and it asks the reader to recognize that their treatment of others is not a contained act but a stored one.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.
Cross-references
- James 2:13 For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Habakkuk 2:8 Because you have plundered many nations, the remnant of the people will plunder you—because of your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers.
- Matthew 7:2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Ezekiel 30:3 For the day is near, the Day of the LORD is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
- Judges 1:7 Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
- Psalms 137:8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Jeremiah 49:12 For this is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must drink it too.
- Jeremiah 50:29 Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
- Joel 3:7 Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.
- Joel 3:11 Come quickly, all you surrounding nations, and gather yourselves. Bring down Your mighty ones, O LORD.