Obadiah

At 21 verses, Obadiah is the shortest book of the Old Testament. The whole of it is an oracle against Edom, the neighboring nation descended from Esau — Jacob's brother — which rejoiced and profited when Jerusalem fell. The central accusation is not attacking, but standing at a distance watching and then looting: "you should not have looked down on your brother in the day of his disaster". The book deals with a very current theme: standing by while someone close suffers. The closing announces a reversal and ends with a short line that sums up prophetic hope: "the kingdom will be the Lord's".