Amos 6

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

1  a “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on b the mountain of Samaria,
c the notable men of d the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
 2 Pass over to e Calneh, and see,
and from there go to f Hamath the great;
then go down to g Gath of the Philistines.
h Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory,
 3  i O you who put far away the day of disaster
j and bring near the seat of violence?
 4  “Woe to those k who lie on l beds of ivory
m and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
n and calves from the midst of the stall,
 5  o who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David p invent for themselves instruments of music,
 6  q who drink wine in bowls
and r anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
 7  s Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

8  t The Lord  God has sworn by himself, declares the  Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor u the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
v and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

9 And w if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one’s relative, x the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, y “Silence! We must not mention the name of the  Lord.”

11  For behold, the  Lord commands,
and z the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
and the little house into bits.
 12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there ▼
▼ Or the sea
 with oxen?
ab But you have turned justice into ac poison
ad and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood ▼
▼ Or  into bitter fruit
—
 13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar ▼
▼  Lo-debar means nothing

who say ag “Have we not by our own strength
captured Karnaim ▼
▼  Karnaim means horns (a symbol of strength)
 for ourselves?”
 14 “For behold ai I will raise up against you a nation,
O house of Israel,” declares the  Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from aj Lebo-hamath
to the Brook of ak the Arabah.”
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