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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.(A)

If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And if a relative, one who burns it,[a] 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[b] 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.(B)
12 Do horses run on rocky crags?
    Does one plow the sea with oxen?[c]
But you have turned justice into poison
    and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,(C)
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[d]
    who say, “Have we not by our own strength
    taken Karnaim[e] 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.(D)

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Footnotes

  1. 6.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 6.10 Heb he
  3. 6.12 Or Does one plow them with oxen
  4. 6.13 Or in a thing of nothingness
  5. 6.13 Or horns

The Lord Swears an Oath

“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.

“And if there are ten men remaining in one house,
    they will die.
10 One’s relative will pick up the corpse[a]
    to carry them from the house for burning,[b]
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[c] with oxen, does he?
But you have turned justice to gall,
    and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.[d]
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[e] of the wilderness.”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 6:10 Lit. bones
  2. Amos 6:10 Or house to burn incense
  3. Amos 6:12 The Heb. lacks rock
  4. Amos 6:12 Lit. wormwood
  5. 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