Amos 6

1 Woe [to] those secure in Zion, And those confident in the mount of Samaria, The marked of the chief of the nations, And come to them have the house of Israel.

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 over [to] Calneh and see, And go thence [to] Hamath the great, And go down [to] Gath of the Philistines, Are [they] better than these kingdoms? Greater [is] their border 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 Who are putting away the day of evil, And ye bring nigh the seat of violence,

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

4 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,

They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.

5 Who are taking part according to the psaltery, Like David they invented for themselves instruments of music;

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

6 Who are drinking with bowls of wine, And [with] chief perfumes anoint [themselves], And have not been pained for the breach 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 they remove at the head of the captives, And turned aside is the mourning-feast of stretched-out ones.

So they will now go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away.

8 Sworn hath the Lord Jehovah by Himself, An affirmation of Jehovah, God of Hosts: I am abominating the excellency of Jacob, And his high places I have hated, And I have delivered up the city and its fulness.

“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 if there are left ten persons in one house, It hath come to pass — that they have died.

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

10 And lifted him up hath his loved one, 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 yet with thee?' And he said, 'None,' then he said, 'Hush! Save to make mention of the name of Jehovah.'

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 lo, Jehovah is commanding, And He hath smitten 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 Do horses run on a rock? Doth one plough [it] with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.

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 O ye who are rejoicing at nothing, Who are saying, 'Have we not by our strength taken to ourselves horns?'

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

14 Surely, lo, I am raising against you a nation, O house of Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, God of Hosts, And they have oppressed you from the coming in to Hamath, Unto the stream of the desert.

“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.”