Amos 6
1 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!
How disastrous it will be for you who have an easy life in Zion, and you who feel secure living on Mount Samaria—you who are the most famous men in all of Israel to whom people come for help!
2 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?”
But go to Calneh, and see what took place there. Then go on to the great city of Hamath, and down to the Philistine city of Gath. Were they better kingdoms than yours? Did they have more territory than you?
3 Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near.
You put out of your minds any thought of coming disaster, yet you are bringing closer the time when violence reigns.
4 They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
How disastrous it will be for you people who lie on beds decorated with ivory and lounge on couches, eating lamb from your flocks and fattened calves from the stall.
5 They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did.
You make up songs accompanied by the harp, thinking you're great composers like David.
6 They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
You drink wine by the bowlful, and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph's descendants.
7 So they will now go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away.
So you will be at the head of those led away into exile; the feasting and lazing around will be over.
8 “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.”
The Lord God has sworn an oath on his own life. This is what the Lord God of power declares: I detest Jacob's arrogance and I hate his fortresses; I will hand over this city and all in it to the enemy.
9 It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.
If there are ten people in a house, they will die.
10 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.”
And when a relative comes to take away the bodies from the house, he will ask someone inside “Is there anyone else with you?” The person will reply, “No...” Then the other will say, “Quiet! Don't even mention the Lord's name.”
11 For, look, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits.
Watch out! When the Lord gives the command, large houses will be reduced to rubble, and small houses smashed to pieces.
12 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.
Can horses gallop over rocks? Can oxen plow the sea? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of doing good into bitterness!
13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?”
You joyfully celebrate your conquest of Lodebar, and say “Didn't we in our own strength capture Karnaim?”
14 “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.”
Watch out, people of Israel! I am going to send an enemy nation to attack you, says the Lord God of power, and they will oppress you from the Pass of Hamath to the Arabah Valley.
