Amos 6

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

1Trouble is coming to you who feel safe and comfortable in Zion, the city of Jerusalem. Trouble is coming to you who feel safe on the hill of Samaria, the capital city of Israel. You are the important people of the leading nation. The people of Israel come to you for help.

2Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border?

2Go over to the city of Calneh and look at it. Then go from there to the great city of Hamath. Then go down to Gath, a city of the Philistines. Are you any better than those kingdoms? Is their land bigger than your land?

3Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;

3You act as if the day of trouble will never come. But you bring cruel and violent rule closer every day.

4That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

4You lie on beds decorated with ivory. You stretch out on your couches. You eat the best lambs from the flock. You eat young calves from the pen.

5That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David;

5You make up songs while you play the harp, the way David did. You invent new musical instruments for yourselves.

6That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

6You drink wine by the bowlful. You rub the finest oils on your skin. But you are not sad about the ruin of Joseph.

Note"Joseph" here is a name for the whole northern nation of Israel. Its "ruin" means the trouble the country is heading into.

7Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

7So you will be the first ones led away as prisoners. Your feasting and your lazy resting will come to an end.

8The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.

8The Lord GOD made a promise, and he swore it by his own name. The LORD, the God of armies, says this: "I hate the proud ways of Jacob. I hate his strong houses. So I will hand over the city and everyone in it."

9And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.

9If ten men are still alive in one house, even they will die.

10And a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD.

10A relative will come to carry the dead bodies out of the house and burn them. He will call to someone still inside. He will ask, "Is anyone else in there with you?" The person will answer, "No one." Then the relative will say, "Be quiet. We must not say the LORD's name."

11For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts.

11Look, the LORD is giving the order. The big house will be smashed to pieces. The small house will be broken into bits.

12Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock:

12Do horses gallop on rocky cliffs? Does anyone plow the sea with oxen? Of course not. But you have turned fair judging into poison. You have turned right living into a bitter, poisonous weed.

13Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?

13You are proud of a town called Lo-debar, whose name means "nothing." You say, "We took the town of Karnaim by our own strength."

NoteThe KJV says "a thing of nought" and "horns." These are really two town names that Israel had captured. Lo-debar sounds like the word for "nothing." Karnaim sounds like the word for "horns," which meant strength.

14But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness.

14The LORD, the God of armies, says this: "Look, people of Israel. I will bring a nation to fight against you. They will hurt you everywhere in your land. It will reach from Lebo-hamath all the way to the Brook of the Arabah."

NoteThese two places mark the far north and the far south edges of Israel's land. The KJV spells the first one Hemath.