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.
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 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?
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 You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
You are trying to not think about a day when you will experience disasters, when [your enemies will come and] violently attack you.
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.
You lie on beds [decorated with expensive] ivory, and on [soft] couches. You eat [the tender meat of] lambs and fat calves.
5 You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
You create/compose new songs and play them on your harps like [King] David did.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin 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, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an 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 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.”
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 And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.
[When that happens, ] if there are ten people in one house, they will all 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.”
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 the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
[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 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—
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 Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim 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 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.”
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].”
