Amos 6

1 Alas for the careless in Zion, and for them who put confidence in the mountain of Samaria, —the distinguished among the first group of nations, to whom came in the house of Israel.

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 Pass ye over to Calneh, and see, and go on from thence to Hamath the great, —and go down to Gath of the Philistines, are they better than these kingdoms? or their boundary larger than your boundary?

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 Ye who are putting far away the day of calamity, —but bringing near the abode of violence:

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

4 Who are lying on beds of ivory, and sprawling on their couch of pleasure, —and eating the well-fed of the flock, and the fatted 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 are bawling at the bidding of the harp, —like David, have they invented for themselves instruments of song:

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

6 Who are quaffing bowls of wine, and, with the best of oils, anointing themselves, —and are not afflicted for the injury 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, at once, shall they go into exile among the first of the exiles, —so shall be disturbed the revelry of sprawlers.

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

8 Sworn hath the Lord, Yahweh, by his own life, Declareth Yahweh, God of hosts, abhorring am I, the grandeur of Jacob, and, his palaces, I hate, —therefore will I cast off the city and the fulness thereof.

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, though there be left remaining ten men in one house, yet shall they die;

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

10 And a man’s near of kin, even he who is about to burn the bones, shall carry him out of the house, when he shall say to him that is in the hinder parts of the house—Are there yet any with thee? and he shall say—No one. Then shall he say—Hush! for we must not invoke the name of Yahweh.

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 lo! Yahweh, is giving command, and will smite the great house into ruins, —and the little house with clefts.

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

12 Shall horses run upon crag? or will a man plough [there] with oxen? For ye have turned to poison the sentence of justice, and the fruit of righteousness, to wormwood:

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 Who rejoice in a thing of nought, —who say, Have we not by our own strength, taken to ourselves horns?

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 me! raising up against you, O house of Israel, Declareth Yahweh, the God of hosts—a nation! And they shall crush you, from the entering in of Hamath, unto the torrent-bed of the waste plain.

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.