Amos 6
1 Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
2 Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
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 is their border greater than your border?
3 You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
Ye who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near,
4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
who lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall,
5 You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
who sing idle songs to the sound of the viol, who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David,
6 You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end.
Therefore they shall now go captive with the first who go captive, and the revelry of those who stretched themselves shall pass away.
8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
The lord Jehovah has sworn by himself, says Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces, therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is therein.
9 And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.
And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
10 And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”
And when a man's uncle shall take him up, even he who burns him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No, then he shall say, Hold thy peace, for we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
11 For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
For, behold, Jehovah commands, and the great house shall be smitten with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
12 “Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
Shall horses run upon the rock? Will a man plow there with oxen? That ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’
ye who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
14 For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”
For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says Jehovah, the God of hosts, and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.
