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Amos 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Amos 6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 6
Third Woe
1 Woe to those who are complacent in Zion,
secure on the mount of Samaria,
Leaders of the first among nations,
to whom the people of Israel turn.
2 Pass over to Calneh and see,
go from there to Hamath the great,
and down to Gath[a] of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms,
or is your territory greater than theirs?
3 You who would put off the day of disaster,
yet hasten the time of violence!
4 Those who lie on beds of ivory,
and lounge upon their couches;
Eating lambs taken from the flock,
and calves from the stall;
5 Who improvise to the music of the harp,
composing on musical instruments like David,
6 Who drink wine from bowls,
and anoint themselves with the best oils,
but are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph;
7 Therefore, now they shall be the first to go into exile,
and the carousing of those who lounged shall cease.
8 The Lord God has sworn by his very self—
an oracle of the Lord, the God of hosts:
I abhor the pride of Jacob,
I hate his strongholds,
and I will hand over the city with everything in it;(A)
9 Should there remain ten people
in a single house, these shall die.
10 When a relative or one who prepares the body picks up the remains
to carry them out of the house,
If he says to someone in the recesses of the house,
“Is anyone with you?” and the answer is, “No one,”
Then he shall say, “Silence!”
for no one must mention the name of the Lord.[b](B)
11 Indeed, the Lord has given the command
to shatter the great house to bits,
and reduce the small house to rubble.
12 Can horses run over rock,
or can one plow the sea with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into gall,
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,(C)
13 You who rejoice in Lodebar,
and say, “Have we not, by our own strength,
seized Karnaim[c] for ourselves?”
14 Look, I am raising up against you, house of Israel—
oracle of the Lord, the God of hosts—
A nation[d] that shall oppress you
from Lebo-hamath even to the Wadi Arabah.
Footnotes
- 6:2 Calneh…Hamath…Gath: city-states overcome by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C., whose fate should be a lesson to the Israelites. The prophet castigates the leaders for being more intent on pursuing a luxurious lifestyle (vv. 1, 4–6) than reading the signs of the times.
- 6:10 In this desperate situation there seems to be a profound fear of the Lord, who is the cause of the deaths (cf. 3:6).
- 6:13 Lodebar…Karnaim: two towns recaptured from Judah by Israelite forces during the reign of Jeroboam II (see 2 Kgs 14:25). Some mockery of at least the first of these victories is probably intended by the prophet here, as Lodebar can be translated “nothing.”
- 6:14 A nation: Assyria. Lebo-hamath…Wadi Arabah: the territorial limits of Solomon’s kingdom, north and south respectively, as re-established by Jeroboam II (see 2 Kgs 14:25).
Amos 6
New International Version
Amos 6
New International Version
Woe to the Complacent
6 Woe to you(A) who are complacent(B) in Zion,
and to you who feel secure(C) on Mount Samaria,(D)
you notable men of the foremost nation,
to whom the people of Israel come!(E)
2 Go to Kalneh(F) and look at it;
go from there to great Hamath,(G)
and then go down to Gath(H) in Philistia.
Are they better off than(I) your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You put off the day of disaster
and bring near a reign of terror.(J)
4 You lie on beds adorned with ivory
and lounge on your couches.(K)
You dine on choice lambs
and fattened calves.(L)
5 You strum away on your harps(M) like David
and improvise on musical instruments.(N)
6 You drink wine(O) by the bowlful
and use the finest lotions,
but you do not grieve(P) over the ruin of Joseph.(Q)
7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;(R)
your feasting and lounging will end.(S)
The Lord Abhors the Pride of Israel
8 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself(T)—the Lord God Almighty declares:
“I abhor(U) the pride of Jacob(V)
and detest his fortresses;(W)
I will deliver up(X) the city
and everything in it.(Y)”
9 If ten(Z) 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[a](AA) asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush!(AB) We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord has given the command,
and he will smash(AC) the great house(AD) into pieces
and the small house into bits.(AE)
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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