Amos 6

1 Woe [to] those secure in Zion, And those confident on the mountain of Samaria, The marked of the chief of the nations, And the house of Israel has come to them.

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 Pass over [to] Calneh and see, And go there [to] Hamath the great, And go down [to] Gath of the Philistines, Are [they] better than these kingdoms? [Is] their border greater than your border?

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 Who are putting away the day of evil, And you bring the seat of violence near,

Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near.

4 Who are lying down on beds of ivory, And are spread out on their couches, And are eating lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall,

They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.

5 Who are taking part according to the stringed instrument, Like David they invented for themselves instruments of music;

They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did.

6 Who are drinking with bowls of wine, And anoint themselves [with] chief perfumes, And have not been pained for the breach 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 Therefore they now go at the head of the captives, And the mourning-feast of stretched-out ones is turned aside.

So they will now go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away.

8 Lord YHWH has sworn by Himself, A declaration of YHWH, God of Hosts: “I am abominating the excellence of Jacob, And his high places I have hated, And I have delivered up the city and its fullness.”

“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 And if there are left ten persons in one house, It has come to pass—that they have died.

It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.

10 And his loved one has lifted him up, even his burner, To bring forth the bones from the house, And he said to him who [is] in the sides of the house, “Is there [any] yet with you?” And he said, “None,” Then he said, “Hush! We must not make mention of the Name of YHWH.”

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 behold, YHWH is commanding, And He has struck the great house [with] breaches, And the little house [with] clefts.

For, look, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits.

12 Do horses run on a rock? Does one plow [it] with oxen? For you have turned judgment to gall, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.

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 O you who are rejoicing at nothing, Who are saying, “Have we not taken to ourselves horns by our strength?”

You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?”

14 “Surely, behold, I am raising a nation against you, O house of Israel,” A declaration of YHWH, God of Hosts, “And they have oppressed you from the coming in to Hamath, To the stream of the desert.”

“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.”