Amos 6
6
Those Who Live Only for Today
1-2Woe to you who think you live on easy street in Zion,
who think Mount Samaria is the good life.
You assume you’re at the top of the heap,
voted the number-one best place to live.
Well, wake up and look around. Get off your pedestal.
Take a look at Calneh.
Go and visit Great Hamath.
Look in on Gath of the Philistines.
Doesn’t that take you off your high horse?
Compared to them, you’re not much, are you?
3-6Woe to you who are rushing headlong to disaster!
Catastrophe is just around the corner!
Woe to those who live in luxury
and expect everyone else to serve them!
Woe to those who live only for today,
indifferent to the fate of others!
Woe to the playboys, the playgirls,
who think life is a party held just for them!
Woe to those addicted to feeling good—life without pain!
those obsessed with looking good—life without wrinkles!
They could not care less
about their country going to ruin.
7But here’s what’s really coming:
a forced march into exile.
They’ll leave the country whining,
a rag-tag bunch of good-for-nothings.
You’ve Made a Shambles of Justice
8 God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word.
The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks:
“I hate the arrogance of Jacob.
I have nothing but contempt for his forts.
I’m about to hand over the city
and everyone in it.”
9-10Ten men are in a house, all dead. A relative comes and gets the bodies to prepare them for a decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, “Are there any more?” The answer: “Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this desecrated place.”
11Note well: God issues the orders.
He’ll knock large houses to smithereens.
He’ll smash little houses to bits.
12-13Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks?
Do you plow the sea with oxen?
You’d cripple the horses
and drown the oxen.
And yet you’ve made a shambles of justice,
a bloated corpse of righteousness,
Bragging of your trivial pursuits,
beating up on the weak and crowing, “Look what I’ve done!”
14“Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites.
I’ve got a pagan army on the move against you”
—this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies—
“And they’ll make hash of you,
from one end of the country to the other.”
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Amos 6: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Amos 6
6
Israel’s Good Times Will Be Taken Away
1Oh, look at the people enjoying life in Zion,
and those on Mount Samaria who feel so safe.
They are such important leaders of a most important nation.
The “House of Israel” comes to you for advice.
2Go look at Calneh.
From there, go to the large city Hamath.
Go to the Philistine city of Gath.#6:2 Calneh, Hamath, Gath Powerful Babylonian, Syrian, and Philistine cities that were all captured by the Assyrians.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Their countries are larger than yours.
3You people are rushing toward the day of punishment.
You bring near the rule of violence.
4But now you lie on ivory beds
and stretch out on your couches.
You eat tender young lambs from the flock
and young calves from the stable.
5You play your harps,
and like David, you practice on#6:5 practice on Or “invent.” The Hebrew word means to “think,” “become skilled,” or “design.” your musical instruments.
6You drink wine in fancy cups.#6:6 fancy cups Very large bowls used in worship rituals.
You use the best perfumes.
And it doesn’t even bother you
that Joseph’s family is being destroyed.
7You people are stretched out on your couches now, but your good times will end. You will be taken away as prisoners to a foreign country, and you will be some of the first people taken. 8The Lord GOD used his own name and made an oath. The Lord God All-Powerful said,
“I hate what Jacob is proud of.
I hate his strong towers.
So I will let an enemy take the city
and everything in it.”
There Will Be Few Israelites Left Alive
9At that time ten people in one house might survive, but they too will die. 10And when someone dies, a relative will come to get the body so that it can be taken out and burned.#6:10 And when … burned The meaning of the Hebrew text here is uncertain. Relatives will come to take away the bones. They will call to anyone who might be hiding back in the house, “Are there any other dead bodies in there with you?”
That person will answer, “No, ….”#6:10 No, … The full answer might have been, “No, praise the Lord,” but the person was interrupted.
But the relative will interrupt and say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11Look, the Lord will give the command,
and the large houses will be broken to pieces,
and the small houses will be broken to small pieces.
12Do horses run over loose rocks?
No, and people don’t use cows for plowing.
But you turned everything upside down.
You changed justice and goodness to bitter poison.
13You are so excited about defeating Lo Debar.#6:13 Lo Debar This name means “nothing.”
And you boast, “We have taken Karnaim#6:13 Karnaim This name means “horns.” Horns were a symbol of strength. by our own strength.”
14“But Israel, I will bring a nation against you that will bring troubles to your whole country from Lebo Hamath to Arabah Brook.” This is what the Lord God All-Powerful said.
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