Amos 6
6
How Terrible for Those Who Feel Secure When They Shouldn’t
1How terrible it will be for you men
who are so contented on Mount Zion!
How terrible for you who feel secure
on the hill of Samaria!
You are famous men from the greatest nation.
The people of Israel come to you
for help and advice.
2Go and look at the city of Kalneh.
Go from there to the great city of Hamath.
Then go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are those places better off than your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3You are trying to avoid the time
when trouble will come.
But you are only bringing closer
the Assyrian rule of terror.
4You lie down on beds
that are decorated with ivory.
You rest on your couches.
You eat the best lambs
and the fattest calves.
5You pluck away on your harps as David did.
You play new songs on musical instruments.
6You drink wine by the bowlful.
You use the finest lotions.
But Joseph’s people will soon be destroyed.
And you aren’t even sad about it.
7So you will be among the first
to be taken away as prisoners.
You won’t be able to enjoy good food.
You won’t lie around on couches anymore.
The Lord Hates the Pride of Israel
8The Lord and King has made a promise in his own name. He is the Lord God who rules over all. He announces,
“I hate the pride of Jacob’s people.
I can’t stand their forts.
I will hand the city of Samaria
and everything in it over to their enemies.”
9Ten people might be left in one house. If they are, they will die there. 10Relatives might come to burn the dead bodies. If they do, they’ll have to carry them out of the house first. They might ask someone still hiding there, “Is anyone else here with you?” If the answer is no, the relatives will go on to say, “Be quiet! We must not pray in the Lord’s name.”
11That’s because the Lord has already given an order.
He will smash large houses to pieces.
He will crush small houses to bits.
12Horses don’t run on rocky ground.
People don’t plow the sea with oxen.
But you have turned fair treatment into poison.
You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.
13You are happy because you captured the town of Lo Debar.
You say, “We were strong enough to take Karnaim too.”
14But the Lord God rules over all. He announces, “People of Israel,
I will stir up a nation against you.
They will crush you from Lebo Hamath
all the way down to the Arabah Valley.”
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Amos 6: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Amos 6
6
1How disastrous it will be for you who have an easy life in Zion, and you who feel secure living on Mount Samaria—you who are the most famous men in all of Israel to whom people come for help! 2But go to Calneh, and see what took place there. Then go on to the great city of Hamath, and down to the Philistine city of Gath.#6:2. Foreign cities destroyed by invaders. Were they better kingdoms than yours? Did they have more territory than you? 3You put out of your minds any thought of coming disaster, yet you are bringing closer the time when violence reigns.
4How disastrous it will be for you people who lie on beds decorated with ivory and lounge on couches, eating lamb from your flocks and fattened calves from the stall. 5You make up songs accompanied by the harp, thinking you're great composers like David. 6You drink wine by the bowlful, and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph's descendants. 7So you will be at the head of those led away into exile; the feasting and lazing around will be over.
8The Lord God has sworn an oath on his own life. This is what the Lord God of power declares: I detest Jacob's arrogance and I hate his fortresses; I will hand over this city and all in it to the enemy.#6:8. “To the enemy”: implied. 9If there are ten people in a house, they will die. 10And when a relative comes to take away the bodies from the house, he will ask someone inside, “Is there anyone else with you?” The person will reply, “No...” Then the other will say, “Quiet! Don't even mention the Lord's name.”
11Watch out! When the Lord gives the command, large houses will be reduced to rubble, and small houses smashed to pieces. 12Can horses gallop over rocks? Can oxen plow the sea? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of doing good into bitterness! 13You joyfully celebrate your conquest of Lodebar,#6:13. The name of this town means “nothing.” and say “Didn't we in our own strength capture Karnaim?”#6:13. Karnaim means “strength.”
14Watch out, people of Israel! I am going to send an enemy nation to attack you, says the Lord God of power, and they will oppress you from the Pass of Hamath to the Arabah Valley.#6:14. Meaning from the north to the south. The Arabah Valley is the Jordan Valley.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com