Amos 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished
6 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel resorts!(A)
2 Cross over to Calneh and see;
from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better[a] than these kingdoms?
Or is your[b] territory greater than their[c] territory,(B)
3 you who put far away the evil day
and bring near a reign of violence?(C)
4 Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
and lounge on their couches
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall,(D)
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David improvise on instruments of music,(E)
6 who drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!(F)
7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.(G)
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself
(says the Lord, the God of hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.(H)
9 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And if a relative, one who burns it,[d] takes up the body to bring it out of the house and says to someone in the innermost parts of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” the answer will come, “No.” Then the relative[e] shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord commands,
and he will shatter the great house to bits
and the little house to pieces.(I)
12 Do horses run on rocky crags?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?[f]
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,(J)
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[g]
who say, “Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim[h] for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
to the Wadi Arabah.(K)
Amos 6
International Standard Version
Mourning for the House of Israel
6 “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
to those who rest on the mountain of Samaria—
the famous men of the nations
to whom the house of Israel came!
2 Cross over to Calneh[a] and look around,
then go on to that great city of[b] Hamath,
and from there go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory more extensive than yours?
3 “Disbelieving that a day of evil will come,[c]
embracing opportunities to commit violence,[d]
4 lying on ivory beds,
stretching out on your couches,
eating lambs from the flock,
and fattened calves from the stall,
5 chanting to the sound of stringed instruments as if they were David,
composing songs to themselves as if they were musicians,
6 drinking wine from bowls,
anointing themselves with the choicest of oils,
but not grieving on the occasion of Joseph’s ruin—
7 therefore you will be the first to go into exile,
and the celebrations of those who are lounging will end.”
The Lord Swears an Oath
8 “The Lord God has sworn by himself,”
declares the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
“I utterly detest the arrogance of Jacob;
I hate his fortresses;
and I will deliver up the city,
along with everyone in it.
9 “And if there are ten men remaining in one house,
they will die.
10 One’s relative will pick up the corpse[e]
to carry them from the house for burning,[f]
saying to whomever remains inside the house,
‘Is there anyone still with you?’
And he will say, ‘No.’
He will respond, ‘Be quiet,
because we do not mention the name “Lord”.’
11 For indeed, the Lord is giving the command—
and he will smash the large house to rubble
and the small house into bits.
12 “Horses don’t run over bare rock, do they?
One doesn’t plow rock[g] with oxen, does he?
But you have turned justice to gall,
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.[h]
13 You rejoice in nothing worth mentioning—
that is, you keep on saying,
‘We captured Karnaim by our own strength of will
and by our own effort, didn’t we?’
14 “So look, house of Israel! I will raise up a nation against you,”
declares the Lord, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
“and they will harass you from the entrance of Hamath
to the wadi[i] of the wilderness.”
Footnotes
- Amos 6:2 I.e. a Mesopotamian city
- Amos 6:2 The Heb. lacks city of
- Amos 6:3 The Heb. lacks will come
- Amos 6:3 Lit. yet are pressing hard the seat of violence
- Amos 6:10 Lit. bones
- Amos 6:10 Or house to burn incense
- Amos 6:12 The Heb. lacks rock
- Amos 6:12 Lit. wormwood
- Amos 6:14 I.e. perhaps the Wadi of Egypt, a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times; ancient Israel’s southwestern-most border
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