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 them that dwell at ease in Zion; That feel secure upon the mountain of Samaria; The honorable men of the chief of the nations, To whom the house of Israel resort!
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 over to Calneh, and see; And thence go to great Hamath; 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.
Woe to them, that put far away the day of evil, And bring near the seat of oppression;
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.
That lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch themselves upon their couches; That eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the stall;
5 You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
That chant to the sound of the harp, And 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.
That drink wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the most precious perfumes, But grieve not for the destruction 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 now shall they go captive at the head of the captives; Yea, the shouting of them that stretch themselves upon their couches shall cease.
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 hath sworn by himself, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the pride of Jacob, And I hate his palaces; I will give up the city, and all that is therein.
9 And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.
And if ten men remain in one house, These also 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.”
A man's relative, or a burner of the dead, shall take him up, To carry his bones out of the house, And he shall say to him that is in the innermost part of the house, Is there yet any one with thee? And he shall answer, No one! Then shall he say, Keep silence! 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 hath commanded, And he will smite the great house with breaches, And the small 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 rocks, Or will one plough rocks with oxen, That ye change justice into hemlock, And the fruit of equity into wormwood,
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’
Ye that rejoice in a thing of naught, And say, Have we not acquired dominion 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.”
Behold, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, I will raise against you a nation, That shall oppress you from Hamath Even to the brook of the desert.
