1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come! 2 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. are they better than these kingdoms? or is their border greater than your border? 3 Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; 4 Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5 who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David; 6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7 Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end. 8 "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. 9 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 the name of Yahweh.' 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."
The prophet reproves his people for indulging themselves in luxurious ease, and forming alliances with their powerful idolatrous neighbors, Amos 6:1. He asks if their lands or their lot be better than their own, Amos 6:2, that they should choose to worship the gods of the heathen, and forsake Jehovah. Then follows an amplification of the sin which the prophet reproves, Amos 6:3-6; to which he annexes very awful threatenings, confirmed by the oath of Jehovah, Amos 6:7, Amos 6:8. He next particularly specifies the punishment of their sins by pestilence, Amos 6:9-11; by famine, or a drought that should harden the earth so that it could not be tilled, Amos 6:12; and by the sword of the Assyrians, Amos 6:14.
INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 6
This chapter seems to be directed both to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the ten tribes of Israel, under the names of Zion and Samaria, and to the principal men in both; who are reproved and threatened for their carnal security and self-confidence, being in no fear of the evil day, though they had no reason for it no more than other people, Amos 6:1; are charged with wantonness, luxury, intemperance, and want of sympathy with those in distress, Amos 6:4; therefore are threatened to be carried captive first, and their city to be delivered up; which, for the certainty of it, is not only said, but swore to, Amos 6:7; and a great mortality in every house, and the destruction of all houses, both great and small, Amos 6:9; and since a reformation of them seemed impracticable, and not to be expected, but they gloried in their wealth, and boasted of their strength, therefore they should be afflicted by a foreign nation raised against them, which affliction should be general, from one end of the country to the other, Amos 6:12.
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