Amos 6

“Carefree in Zion”

11Woe to those who are carefree in Zion, And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, The 2dignitaries of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.2Go over to 3Calneh and look, And go from there to 4Hamath the great, Then go down to 5Gath of the Philistines. Are 6they better than these kingdoms, Or is their territory greater than yours?3Are you 7postponing the day of disaster, And would you 8bring near the seat of violence?

4Those who lie on beds of ivory, And lounge around on their 9couches, And 10eat lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle,5Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And like David have 11composed 12songs for themselves,6Who 13drink wine from sacred bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils-- Yet they have not 14grieved over the collapse of Joseph.7Therefore, they will now 15go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the revelry of those who 16lounge around will come to an end.

8The Lord 17God has 18sworn by Himself, the Lord God of armies has declared: “I 19loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And 20detest his 21citadels; Therefore I will 22give up the city and 23all it contains.” 9And it will be, if 24ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10Then one’s 25uncle, or his 26undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will 27answer, “28Keep quiet! For 29the name of the Lord is 30not to be mentioned.” 11For behold, the Lord is going to 31command that the 32great house be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.

12Do horses run on rocks? Or does one 33plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned 34justice into poison, And the fruit of righteousness into 35wormwood,13You who rejoice in 3637Lodebar, 38And say, “Have we not 39by our own strength taken 40Karnaim for ourselves?”14“For behold, 41I am going to raise up a nation against you, House of Israel,” declares the Lord God of armies, “And they will torment you from the 42entrance of Hamath To the 43brook of the Arabah.”