Obadiah 1:13
“Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Edom is condemned for entering the fallen city, feasting on its misery, and seizing the goods of God's afflicted people.
What Does Obadiah 1:13 Mean?
The accusation moves from attitude to action. Edom entered the gates of God's people once those defenses were breached, looked on their affliction, and laid hands on their substance, plundering what little remained. Three times the phrase in the day of their calamity falls like a tolling bell over the scene.
Notice that God calls them my people. To prey on those whom God claims as His own is to provoke the One who watches over them. The verse warns the reader against profiting from another's downfall, against treating a neighbor's loss as our opportunity. What we do to the afflicted, God counts as done in His sight.