Amos 6

1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!

Terrible things will happen to you people in Jerusalem who are not worried about anything, and also to you leaders who live on Samaria Hill who think that you are safe. [You think that] [IRO] you are the most important people [in the world], people to whom Israeli people [MTY] go [to get help].

2 Go to Calneh, and see. From there go to Hamath the great. Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Is their border greater than your border?

But go to Calneh [city] and see [what happened there]. Then go to [see] the great [city] Hamath [and see what happened there]. Then go down to Gath [city] in Philistia [and see what happened to their city walls]. Your land/country is certainly not [RHQ] larger or more powerful than their countries were, [but they were all destroyed].

3 Alas for you who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near,

You are trying to not think about a day when you will experience disasters, when [your enemies will come and] violently attack you.

4 who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the middle of the stall,

You lie on beds [decorated with expensive] ivory, and on [soft] couches. You eat [the tender meat of] lambs and fat calves.

5 who strum on the strings of a harp, who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;

You create/compose new songs and play them on your harps like [King] David did.

6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

You drink entire bowlfuls of wine and you put expensive oils/perfumes on your bodies, but you do not grieve about [your country of] Israel [MTY], which is about to be destroyed.

7 Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive. The feasting and lounging will end.

Your feasting and lounging [on soft couches] will soon end, and you will be among the first ones to be forced [by your enemies] to go (into exile/to another country).

8 “The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.

Yahweh the Lord has solemnly declared this: “I hate the people of Israel because they are very proud; I detest their fortresses. I will enable [their enemies] to capture their [capital] city and everything in it.”

9 It will happen that if ten men remain in one house, they will die.

[When that happens, ] if there are ten people in one house, they will all die.

10 “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is there yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘No;’ then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention Yahweh’s name.’

If a relative who (has the task of/is responsible for) burning their corpses comes to the house and inquires of anyone who is still hiding there, “Is there anyone here with you?”, and that person replies “No,” [the one who inquired] will say, “Be quiet! We must not mention the name of Yahweh, [lest he cause us also to be killed]!”

11 “For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.

[Terrible things like that will happen] because Yahweh has commanded that large houses [in Israel] must be smashed into pieces, and small houses must be smashed into tiny bits.

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness,

Horses certainly do not [RHQ] run on big rocks, and certainly people do not [RHQ] plow the sea with oxen. But you have [done things that no one should do]: You have distorted what is fair/right and caused it to be considered like poison [MET]; you have changed what is right and consider it to be like things that are bitter.

13 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, ‘Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?’

You are proud because you have captured Lo-Debar [town], and you have said, “We captured Karnaim by our own power!”

14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies; “and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.”

But the Commander of the armies of angels declares, “I will cause another nation to attack you people [MTY] of Israel; they will (oppress you/cause you to suffer) all the way from Hamath Pass [in the northwest] to the Dead Sea [in the southeast].”