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“The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies:
    “I abhor the pride of Jacob,
    and detest his fortresses.
    Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house,
    that they shall die.

10 “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is there yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘No;’ then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention Yahweh’s name.’

11 “For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces,
    and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on the rocky crags?
    Does one plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison,
    and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
13 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say,
    ‘Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?’
14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel,”
    says Yahweh, the God of Armies;
    “and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.”

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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