Amos 6

1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

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 Pass ye to Calneh, and see; and from there go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: are they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

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 Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near.

4 That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of 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 That chant to the sound of the harp, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David;

They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did.

6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction 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 shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

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 hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore I will deliver up the city with all its abundance.

“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 And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, they shall die.

It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die.

10 And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him that is inside of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.

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 For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

For, look, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits.

12 Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:

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

You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?”

14 But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the river of the wilderness.

“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.”