Amos 6
1 Sorrow to those who are resting in comfort in Zion, and to those who have no fear of danger in the mountain of Samaria, the noted men of the chief of the nations, to whom the people of Israel come!
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure in the hill country of Samaria, the notable men of the best of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes for help!
2 Go on to Calneh and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are you better than these kingdoms? or is your land wider than theirs?
Your leaders say, “Go to Kalneh and look; from there go to Hamath, the great city; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than your two kingdoms? Is their border larger than your border?”
3 You who put far away the evil day, causing the rule of the violent to come near;
Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near.
4 Who are resting on beds of ivory, stretched out on soft seats, feasting on lambs from the flock and young oxen from the cattle-house;
They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
5 Making foolish songs to the sound of corded instruments, and designing for themselves instruments of music, like David;
They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did.
6 Drinking wine in basins, rubbing themselves with the best oils; but they have no grief for the destruction of Joseph.
They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7 So now they will go away prisoners with the first of those who are made prisoners, and the loud cry of those who were stretched out will come to an end.
So they will now go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away.
8 The Lord God has taken an oath by himself, says the Lord, the God of armies: the pride of Jacob is disgusting to me, and I have hate for his great houses: so I will give up the town with everything in it.
“I, the Lord Yahweh, have sworn by myself —this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts, I detest the pride of Jacob; I hate his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.”
9 Then it will come about that if there are still ten men in a house, death will overtake them.
It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.
10 And when a man's relation, even the one who is responsible for burning his body, lifting him up to take his bones out of the house, says to him who is in the inmost part of the house, Is there still anyone with you? and he says, No; then he will say, Keep quiet, for the name of the Lord may not be named.
When a man's relative comes to take their bodies up—the one who is to cremate them after bringing the corpses out of the house—if he says to the person in the house, “Is there anyone with you?” What if that person says, “No.” Then he will say, “Be quiet, for we must not mention Yahweh's name.”
11 For see, at the order of the Lord the great house will be full of cracks and the little house will be broken.
For, look, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits.
12 Is it possible for horses to go running on the rock? may the sea be ploughed with oxen? for the right to be turned by you into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into a bitter plant?
Do horses run on the rocky cliffs? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
13 You whose joy is in a thing of no value, who say, Have we not taken for ourselves horns by the strength which is ours?
You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?”
14 For see, I will send against you a nation, O Israel, says the Lord, the God of armies, ruling you cruelly from the way into Hamath as far as the stream of the Arabah.
“But look, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts. They will afflict you from Lebo Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.”
