Urban Word Bible
Amos 6
Read Amos 6 in clear, relatable modern language.
Woe to the Complacent in Zion
1 Woe to those living easy in Zion and feeling secure on the mountain of Samaria, you respected people of the leading nation, the ones Israel runs to.
2 Go look at Calneh, then go from there to great Hamath, then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than your kingdoms, Is their land bigger than yours,
3 You push away the day of disaster but bring near a reign of violence.
4 You lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall.
5 You sing lazy songs to the sound of the harp and make up music like David.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest oils, but you do not care about the ruin of Joseph.
7 That is why you will be the first to go into exile. The partying and lounging will come to an end.
The LORD Rejects Israel’s Pride
8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of armies says: “I hate the pride of Jacob, and I despise his strongholds. I will hand over the city and everything in it.”
9 If ten men are left in one house, they will die.
10 And when a relative comes to carry the bodies out of the house, he will say to the one still hiding inside, “Anybody else with you,” and he will say, “No.” Then he will say, “Be quiet. Do not even mention the name of the LORD.”
11 Because the LORD gives the command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces and the small house broken into fragments.
12 Do horses run on rocks, Does someone plow the sea with oxen, But you turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness.
13 You celebrate over Lo-debar and say, “Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?”
14 “But look, house of Israel, I am raising up a nation against you,” says the LORD God of armies, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath all the way to the brook of the Arabah.”