Amos Chapter 6 – Woe to the Complacent
Ivory beds and wine bowls could not shield Samaria's elite from coming exile.
Following the plea to seek justice in Amos 5, this chapter turns to Israel's self-satisfied elite, who lie on ivory beds, invent instruments "like David," and drink wine in bowls without any grief for the ruin overtaking their nation.
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
Pass ye to Calneh, and see, and from there go ye 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?
Ye who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near,
who 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,
who sing idle songs to the sound of the viol, who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David,
who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief oils, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
Therefore they shall now go captive with the first who go captive, and the revelry of those who stretched themselves shall pass away.
The lord Jehovah has sworn by himself, says Jehovah, the God of hosts: I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces, therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is therein.
And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
And when a man's uncle shall take him up, even he who burns him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No, then he shall say, Hold thy peace, for we may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
For, behold, Jehovah commands, and the great house shall be smitten with breaches, and the little house with clefts.
Shall horses run upon the rock? Will a man plow there with oxen? That ye have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
ye who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength?
For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says Jehovah, the God of hosts, and they shall afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.