Amos 6
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 6
Bloody Description of the Orgy of the Head of Israel
1 Alas for those who are at ease in Zion,
and for those who feel secure on the mount of Samaria,
the leaders of the most important of the nations
to whom the people of Israel have recourse.
2 Cross over to Calneh[a] and see;
travel on from there to Hamath the great,
and then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Is your territory greater than theirs?
3 You put aside all thoughts of the evil day
and thereby hasten the reign of violence.
4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory
and lounge on their couches.
They feast on lambs from the flock
and stall-fattened calves.
5 They improvise on the music of the harp,
and, like David, they invent musical instruments.
6 They drink wine by the bowlful
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but they feel no grief over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now be the first to go into exile,
and their wanton revelry will come to an end.
There Will Be Nothing Left of Israel
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself.
Thus say I, the Lord, the God of hosts:
I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his palaces,
I shall deliver up the city
and all that is in it.
9 If ten men are left in a single house,
they will die.
10 Only a few will be left
to carry out the dead from the house.
If someone calls to a man inside the house,
“Are there any more there?”
and he answers, “No,”
then he will say, “Hush,”
for the name of the Lord must not be mentioned.
11 At the Lord’s command,
the great house will be shattered to bits,
and the small houses will be reduced to rubble.
12 Can horses gallop over rocks?
Can one plow the sea with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of justice into venom—
13 you who rejoice in Lodebar,[b]
who say, “Have we not, by our own strength,
seized Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 Beware, O house of Israel,
for I am raising up against you a nation,
says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and that nation shall oppress you
from Lebo of Hamath even to the Wadi Arabah.
Footnotes
- Amos 6:2 Calneh, near Aleppo, and Hamath were two principalities of Syria.
- Amos 6:13 Lodebar and Karnaim had been conquered by the Israelites (see 2 Ki 13:25; 14:25).
Amos 6
Contemporary English Version
Israel Will Be Punished
6 Do you rulers in Jerusalem
and in the city of Samaria
feel safe and at ease?
Everyone bows down to you,
and you think you are better
than any other nation.
But you are in for trouble!
2 Look what happened
to the cities of Calneh,
powerful Hamath,
and Gath[a] in Philistia.
Are you greater than any
of those kingdoms?
3 You are cruel, and you forget
the coming day of judgment.
4 You rich people lounge around
on beds with ivory posts,
while dining on the meat
of your lambs and calves.
5 You sing foolish songs
to the music of harps,
and you make up new tunes,
just as David used to do.
6 You drink all the wine you want
and wear expensive perfume,
but you don't care about
the ruin of your nation.[b]
7 So you will be the first
to be dragged off as captives;
your good times will end.
8 The Lord God All-Powerful
has sworn by his own name:
“You descendants of Jacob
make me angry by your pride,
and I hate your fortresses.
And so I will surrender your city
and possessions
to your enemies.”
9 If only ten of you survive
by hiding in a house
you will still die.
10 As you carry out a corpse
to prepare it for burial,[c]
your relative in the house
will ask, “Are there others?”
You will answer, “No!”
Then your relative will reply,
“Be quiet! Don't dare mention
the name of the Lord.”[d]
11 At the Lord's command,
houses great and small
will be smashed to pieces.
12 Horses can't gallop on rocks;
oceans[e] can't be plowed.
But you have turned justice
and fairness
into bitter poison.
13 You celebrate the defeat
of Lo-Debar and Karnaim,[f]
and you boast by saying,
“We did it on our own.”
14 But the Lord God All-Powerful
will send a nation to attack
you people of Israel.
They will capture Lebo-Hamath
in the north,
Arabah Creek[g] in the south,
and everything in between.
Footnotes
- 6.2 Calneh … Hamath … Gath: City-states captured by the Assyrians: Calneh in 738 b.c., Hamath in 720, and Gath in 711.
- 6.6 your nation: Hebrew “Joseph's descendants” (see the note at 5.6).
- 6.10 prepare … burial: Or “burn it” or “burn incense for it.”
- 6.10 the name of the Lord: Two relatives seem to be carrying out corpses for burial. One of them warns the other to be careful not even to say “Thank the Lord!” for fear that the mention of his name may cause something worse to happen.
- 6.12 oceans: Or “rocky fields.”
- 6.13 Lo-Debar and Karnaim: Two cities east of the Jordan River that were captured by Jeroboam II (see 2 Kings 14.25). In Hebrew “Lo-Debar” can mean “nothing,” and “Karnaim” means “two horns (of a bull).” Horns were symbols of strength, and so the people are bragging about their military power (defeat of “two horns”), which Amos says is “nothing” (Lo-Debar).
- 6.14 Lebo-Hamath … Arabah Creek: The northern and southern boundaries of the northern kingdom.
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