Amos 6

1 Woe to them that set at nothing Sion, and that trust in the mountain of Samaria: they have gathered [the harvest of] the heads of the nations, and they have gone in themselves.

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 O house of Israel, pass by all [of you], and see; and pass by thence to Ematrabba; and thence descend to Geth of the Philistines, the chief of all these kingdoms, [see] if their coasts are greater than your coasts.

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 You who are approaching the evil day, who are drawing near and adopting false sabbaths;

You push away all thoughts of the evil day, yet have instituted a rule of violence.

4 who sleep upon beds of ivory, and live delicately on their couches, and eat kids out of the flocks, and sucking calves out of the midst of the stalls;

They lie on ivory couches, sprawl on their divans, eat choice lambs from the flock, and fattened calves from the stall.

5 who excel in the sound of musical instruments; they have regarded them as dwelling, not as fleeting [pleasures];

They idly sing to the sound of the lyre, thinking themselves songwriters like David,

6 who drink strained wine, and anoint themselves with the best ointment; and have suffered nothing on occasion of the calamity 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 depart into captivity from the dominion of princes, and the neighing of horses shall be cut off from Ephraim.

Therefore now they must go into exile at the head of the captives, and hushed will be the revelry of the sprawlers.

8 For the Lord has sworn by himself, [saying], Because I abhor all the pride of Jacob, I do also hate his countries, and I will cut off [his] city with all who inhabit it.

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 be ten men left in one house, that they shall die.

If ten people remain in one house, then they will die.

10 But a remnant shall be left behind, and their relations shall take them, and shall strenuously endeavor to carry forth their bones from the house: and one shall say to the heads of the house, Is there yet [any one] else with you? And he shall say, No [one] else. And [the other] shall say, Be silent, that you name not 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 commands, and he will strike the great house with breaches, and the little house with rents.

Look! The Lord is giving the command! He will smash the large house to bits, the small house into fragments.

12 Will horses run upon rocks? will they refrain from neighing at mares? for you have turned judgment into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness:

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 you who rejoice at vanity, who say, Have we not possessed 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 For behold, O house of Israel, I will raise up against you a nation, says the Lord of hosts; and they shall afflict you so that you shall not enter into Aemath, and as it were [from] 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.