Amos 6

1 Woe to you who have been wealthy in Zion, and to you who have confidence in the mountain of Samaria: aristocrats, heads of the people, who advance with a retinue into 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 Cross over to Calneh and see, and go from there into Hamath the great, and descend into Gath of the Philistines, and to the best kingdoms of these, if their limits are wider than your limits.

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 You have been set aside for the day of disaster, and you approach the throne of iniquity.

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

4 You sleep on beds of ivory, and you are lustful on your couches. You devour lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the herd.

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

5 You sing to the sound of stringed instruments; they consider themselves to have the musical abilities of David.

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

6 You drink wine in bowls, and you anoint with the best ointments; and they suffer nothing over the grief 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 Because of this, now they will depart at the head of those who go into captivity; and the faction of the lustful will 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 has sworn by his own soul, the Lord God of hosts says: I detest the arrogance of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will hand over the city with its inhabitants.

“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 For if there were ten men remaining in one house, even they will die.

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

10 And his closest relative will steal him away and will burn him, so that he may carry the bones out of the house. And he will say to him that is in the inner most rooms of the house, “Now is there any left that still belongs to you?” And he will answer, “It is finished.” And he will say to him, “Be silent and do not call to mind 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 has commanded, and he will strike the greater house with catastrophes, and the lesser house with divisions.

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

12 Can horses gallop across rocks, or is anyone able to plough with gazelles? For you have turned judgment into bitterness and the fruit of justice into 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 You rejoice in emptiness. You say, “Have we not, by our own strength, taken horns for ourselves?”

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

14 For behold, house of Israel, I will raise up a people over you, says the Lord God of hosts, and they will crush you from the entrance of Hamath all the way to the burning 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.”