Amos 6
1 Terrible things will happen to you people in Jerusalem who are not worried about anything, and also to you leaders who live on Samaria Hill who think that you are safe. [You think that] [IRO] you are the most important people [in the world], people to whom Israeli people [MTY] go [to get help].
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.
2 But go to Calneh [city] and see [what happened there]. Then go to [see] the great [city] Hamath [and see what happened there]. Then go down to Gath [city] in Philistia [and see what happened to their city walls]. Your land/country is certainly not [RHQ] larger or more powerful than their countries were, [but they were all destroyed].
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?
3 You are trying to not think about a day when you will experience disasters, when [your enemies will come and] violently attack you.
Who are putting away the day of evil, And you bring the seat of violence near,
4 You lie on beds [decorated with expensive] ivory, and on [soft] couches. You eat [the tender meat of] lambs and fat calves.
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,
5 You create/compose new songs and play them on your harps like [King] David did.
Who are taking part according to the stringed instrument, Like David they invented for themselves instruments of music;
6 You drink entire bowlfuls of wine and you put expensive oils/perfumes on your bodies, but you do not grieve about [your country of] Israel [MTY], which is about to be destroyed.
Who are drinking with bowls of wine, And anoint themselves [with] chief perfumes, And have not been pained for the breach of Joseph.
7 Your feasting and lounging [on soft couches] will soon end, and you will be among the first ones to be forced [by your enemies] to go (into exile/to another country).
Therefore they now go at the head of the captives, And the mourning-feast of stretched-out ones is turned aside.
8 Yahweh the Lord has solemnly declared this: “I hate the people of Israel because they are very proud; I detest their fortresses. I will enable [their enemies] to capture their [capital] city and everything in it.”
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.”
9 [When that happens, ] if there are ten people in one house, they will all die.
And if there are left ten persons in one house, It has come to pass—that they have died.
10 If a relative who (has the task of/is responsible for) burning their corpses comes to the house and inquires of anyone who is still hiding there, “Is there anyone here with you?”, and that person replies “No,” [the one who inquired] will say, “Be quiet! We must not mention the name of Yahweh, [lest he cause us also to be killed]!”
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.”
11 [Terrible things like that will happen] because Yahweh has commanded that large houses [in Israel] must be smashed into pieces, and small houses must be smashed into tiny bits.
For behold, YHWH is commanding, And He has struck the great house [with] breaches, And the little house [with] clefts.
12 Horses certainly do not [RHQ] run on big rocks, and certainly people do not [RHQ] plow the sea with oxen. But you have [done things that no one should do]: You have distorted what is fair/right and caused it to be considered like poison [MET]; you have changed what is right and consider it to be like things that are bitter.
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.
13 You are proud because you have captured Lo-Debar [town], and you have said, “We captured Karnaim by our own power!”
O you who are rejoicing at nothing, Who are saying, “Have we not taken to ourselves horns by our strength?”
14 But the Commander of the armies of angels declares, “I will cause another nation to attack you people [MTY] of Israel; they will (oppress you/cause you to suffer) all the way from Hamath Pass [in the northwest] to the Dead Sea [in the southeast].”
“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.”
