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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)
Amos 6
English Standard Version
Amos 6
English Standard Version
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
6 (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[a] with oxen?
(AA)But you have turned justice into (AB)poison
(AC)and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[b]—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[c]
who say, (AD)“Have we not by our own strength
captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (AE)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 (AF)Lebo-hamath
to the Brook of (AG)the Arabah.”
Amos 6
The Message
Amos 6
The Message
Those Who Live Only for Today
6 1-2 Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion,
who think Mount Samaria is the good life.
You assume you’re at the top of the heap,
voted the number-one best place to live.
Well, wake up and look around. Get off your pedestal.
Take a look at Calneh.
Go and visit Great Hamath.
Look in on Gath of the Philistines.
Doesn’t that take you off your high horse?
Compared to them, you’re not much, are you?
3-6 Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster!
Catastrophe is just around the corner!
Woe to those who live in luxury
and expect everyone else to serve them!
Woe to those who live only for today,
indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!
Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain!
those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles!
They could not care less
about their country going to ruin.
7 But here’s what’s really coming:
a forced march into exile.
They’ll leave the country whining,
a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings.
You’ve Made a Shambles of Justice
8 God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word.
The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:
“I hate the arrogance of Jacob.
I have nothing but contempt for his forts.
I’m about to hand over the city
and everyone in it.”
9-10 Ten men are in a house, all dead. A relative comes and gets the bodies to prepare them for a decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, “Are there any more?” The answer: “Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this desecrated place.”
11 Note well: God issues the orders.
He’ll knock large houses to smithereens.
He’ll smash little houses to bits.
12-13 Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks?
Do you plow the sea with oxen?
You’d cripple the horses
and drown the oxen.
And yet you’ve made a shambles of justice,
a bloated corpse of righteousness,
Bragging of your trivial pursuits,
beating up on the weak and crowing, “Look what I’ve done!”
14 “Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites.
I’ve got a pagan army on the move against you”
—this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
“And they’ll make hash of you,
from one end of the country to the other.”
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson