Israel’s Pride Judged

The Lord God has sworn by himself(A)—this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Armies:

I loathe Jacob’s pride(B)
and hate his citadels,(C)
so I will hand over the city(D) and everything in it.

And if there are ten men left in one house, they will die.(E) 10 A close relative[a] and burner[b](F) will remove his corpse[c] from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?”

That person will reply, “None.”

Then he will say, “Silence, because the Lord’s name must not be invoked.”(G)

11 For the Lord commands:

The large house will be smashed to pieces,
and the small house to rubble.(H)

12 Do horses gallop on the cliffs?
Does anyone plow there with oxen?[d]
Yet you have turned justice into poison(I)
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood(J)
13 you who rejoice over Lo-debar(K)
and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim
for ourselves by our own strength?” (L)
14 But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel(M)
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Armies—
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath[e](N)
to the Brook of the Arabah.[f]

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Footnotes

  1. 6:10 Lit His uncle
  2. 6:10 A burner of incense, a memorial fire, or a body; Hb obscure
  3. 6:10 Lit remove bones
  4. 6:12 Some emend to plow the sea
  5. 6:14 Or from Lebo-hamath
  6. 6:14 Probably the Valley of Zared at the southeast end of the Dead Sea

(A)The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor (B)the pride of Jacob
    and hate his strongholds,
    (C)and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

And (D)if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And when one's relative, (E)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, (F)“Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

11 For behold, the Lord commands,
    and (G)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?
(H)But you have turned justice into (I)poison
    (J)and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[b]
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[c]
    who say, (K)“Have we not by our own strength
    captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (L)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 (M)Lebo-hamath
    to the Brook of (N)the Arabah.”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 6:12 Or the sea
  2. Amos 6:12 Or into bitter fruit
  3. Amos 6:13 Lo-debar means nothing
  4. Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns (a symbol of strength)