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!
Woe to them that dwell at ease in Zion; That feel secure upon the mountain of Samaria; The honorable men of the chief of the nations, To whom the house of Israel resort!
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?”
Pass over to Calneh, and see; And thence go to great Hamath; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines: Are they better than these kingdoms, Or is their border greater than your border?
3 Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near.
Woe to them, that put far away the day of evil, And bring near the seat of oppression;
4 They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
That lie upon beds of ivory, And stretch themselves upon their couches; That eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the stall;
5 They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did.
That chant to the sound of the harp, And invent for themselves instruments of music, 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.
That drink wine in bowls, And anoint themselves with the most precious perfumes, But grieve not for the destruction of Joseph!
7 So they will now go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away.
Therefore now shall they go captive at the head of the captives; Yea, the shouting of them that stretch themselves upon their couches shall cease.
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 Jehovah hath sworn by himself, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the pride of Jacob, And I hate his palaces; I will give up the city, and all that is therein.
9 It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.
And if ten men remain in one house, These also shall 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.”
A man's relative, or a burner of the dead, shall take him up, To carry his bones out of the house, And he shall say to him that is in the innermost part of the house, Is there yet any one with thee? And he shall answer, No one! Then shall he say, Keep silence! For we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
11 For, look, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits.
For behold Jehovah hath commanded, And he will smite the great house with breaches, And the small house with clefts.
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.
Shall horses run upon rocks, Or will one plough rocks with oxen, That ye change justice into hemlock, And the fruit of equity into wormwood,
13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?”
Ye that rejoice in a thing of naught, And say, Have we not acquired dominion by our own strength?
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.”
Behold, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, I will raise against you a nation, That shall oppress you from Hamath Even to the brook of the desert.
