Amos 6
1 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!
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 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?
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 push away all thoughts of the evil day, yet have instituted a rule of violence.
Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near.
4 They lie on ivory couches, sprawl on their divans, eat choice lambs from the flock, and fattened calves from 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 They idly sing to the sound of the lyre, thinking themselves songwriters like David,
They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did.
6 they drink bowlfuls of wine, and anoint themselves with the finest of oil. But they do not grieve over the ruin 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 now they must go into exile at the head of the captives, and hushed will be the revelry of the sprawlers.
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, 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.
“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 If ten people remain in one house, then they will die.
It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.
10 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.
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 Look! The Lord is giving the command! He will smash the large house to bits, the small house into fragments.
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 gallop on crags? Does one plough the sea with oxen? Yet you turn justice into poison weed, and the fruit of righteousness into bitter 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 You who are so proud of capturing Lo-debar, who say, “Have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?”
You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?”
14 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.
“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.”
