Amos 6
1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!
Sorrow awaits who are carefree in Zion, overconfident on the mountain of Samaria! The elite of this, the best of nations, on whom the people of Israel rest their hopes!
2 Pass ye to Calneh, and see; and from there go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?
You say to the people: Cross over to Calneh and see, go from there to Hamath the great, then go down to Gath of the Philistines: Are they better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
3 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
You push away all thoughts of the evil day, yet have instituted a rule of violence.
4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall;
They lie on ivory couches, sprawl on their divans, eat choice lambs from the flock, and fattened calves from the stall.
5 That chant to the sound of the harp, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David;
They idly sing to the sound of the lyre, thinking themselves songwriters like David,
6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
they drink bowlfuls of wine, and anoint themselves with the finest of oil. But they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.
Therefore now they must go into exile at the head of the captives, and hushed will be the revelry of the sprawlers.
8 The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore I will deliver up the city with all its abundance.
The Lord God, the Lord, the God of hosts, has sworn by himself: I abhor the pride of Jacob, I hate his palaces, therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it to their enemies.
9 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, they shall die.
If ten people remain in one house, then they will die.
10 And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him that is inside of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.
When the uncle and another member of the family of a dead man come to carry the body out of the house for burial, they will call to someone in a corner of the house, ‘Any more there?’ and he will answer, ‘No’, and then he will add, ‘Be quiet!’ – for the name of the Lord must not be mentioned.
11 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
Look! The Lord is giving the command! He will smash the large house to bits, the small house into fragments.
12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:
Do horses gallop on crags? Does one plow the sea with oxen? Yet you turn justice into poison weed, and the fruit of righteousness into bitter wormwood.
13 Ye who rejoice in a thing of nought, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
You who are so proud of capturing Lo-debar, who say, ‘Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?’
14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the river of the wilderness.
I am now raising up against you, Israel, a nation, says the Lord, the God of hosts. They will oppress you, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.
