Amos 6

1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!

2 Go to Kalneh and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,
and then go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are they better off than your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?

3 You put off the evil day
and bring near a reign of terror.

4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory
and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.

5 You strum away on your harps like David
and improvise on musical instruments.

6 You drink wine by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;
your feasting and lounging will end.

8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself—the Lord God Almighty declares:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob
and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
and everything in it.”
9 If ten people are left in one house, they too will die.

10 And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For the Lord has given the command,
and he will smash the great house into pieces
and the small house into bits.

12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—

13 you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar
and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?”

14 For the Lord God Almighty declares,
“I will stir up a nation against you, house of Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.”

AMOS 6

Israel Will Be Punished

1 Do you rulers in Jerusalem
and in the city of Samaria
feel safe and at ease?
Everyone bows down to you,
and you think you are better
than any other nation.
But you are in for trouble!

2 Look what happened
to the cities of Calneh,
powerful Hamath,
and Gatht in Philistia.
Are you greater than any
of those kingdoms?

3 You are cruel, and you forget
the coming day of judgment.

4 You rich people lounge around
on beds with ivory posts,
while dining on the meat
of your lambs and calves.

5 You sing foolish songs
to the music of harps,
and you make up new tunes,
just as David used to do.

6 You drink all the wine you want
and wear expensive perfume,
but you don't care about
the ruin of your nation.t

7 So you will be the first
to be dragged off as captives;
your good times will end.

8 The [Lord] God All-Powerful
has sworn by his own name:
“You descendants of Jacob
make me angry by your pride,
and I hate your fortresses.
And so I will surrender your city
and possessions
to your enemies.”

9 If only ten of you survive
by hiding in a house
you will still die.

10 As you carry out a corpse
to prepare it for burial, t
your relative in the house
will ask, “Are there others?”
You will answer, “No!”
Then your relative will reply,
“Be quiet! Don't dare mention
the name of the [Lord].”t

11 At the [Lord]'s command,
houses great and small
will be smashed to pieces.

12 Horses can't gallop on rocks;
oceanst can't be plowed.
But you have turned justice
and fairness
into bitter poison.

13 You celebrate the defeat
of Lo-Debar and Karnaim, t
and you boast by saying,
“We did it on our own.”

14 But the [Lord] God All-Powerful
will send a nation to attack
you people of Israel.
They will capture Lebo-Hamath
in the north,
Arabah Creekt in the south,
and everything in between.