1 Woe to you who have been wealthy in Zion, and to you who have confidence in the mountain of Samaria: aristocrats, heads of the people, who advance with a retinue into the house of Israel. 2 Cross over to Calneh and see, and go from there into Hamath the great, and descend into Gath of the Philistines, and to the best kingdoms of these, if their limits are wider than your limits. 3 You have been set aside for the day of disaster, and you approach the throne of iniquity. 4 You sleep on beds of ivory, and you are lustful on your couches. You devour lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the herd. 5 You sing to the sound of stringed instruments; they consider themselves to have the musical abilities of David. 6 You drink wine in bowls, and you anoint with the best ointments; and they suffer nothing over the grief of Joseph. 7 Because of this, now they will depart at the head of those who go into captivity; and the faction of the lustful will be removed. 8 The Lord God has sworn by his own soul, the Lord God of hosts says: I detest the arrogance of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will hand over the city with its inhabitants. 9 For if there were ten men remaining in one house, even they will die. 10 And his closest relative will steal him away and will burn him, so that he may carry the bones out of the house. And he will say to him that is in the inner most rooms of the house, “Now is there any left that still belongs to you?” 11 And he will answer, “It is finished.” And he will say to him, “Be silent and do not call to mind the name of the Lord.” 12 For behold, the Lord has commanded, and he will strike the greater house with catastrophes, and the lesser house with divisions. 13 Can horses gallop across rocks, or is anyone able to plough with gazelles? For you have turned judgment into bitterness and the fruit of justice into wormwood. 14 You rejoice in emptiness. You say, “Have we not, by our own strength, taken horns for ourselves?” 15 For behold, house of Israel, I will raise up a people over you, says the Lord God of hosts, and they will crush you from the entrance of Hamath all the way to the burning of the desert.
Amos · Catholic Public Domain Version
Amos 6 Catholic Public Domain Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (3)
- Esther and Daniel are the Vulgate books (Esther 1–16 with the Greek additions as chapters 10:4–16; Daniel 1–14 with the Song of the Three, Susanna and Bel). Baruch 6 is the Letter of Jeremiah.
- The translator's footnotes, cross-references, chapter summaries and book introductions in the CrossWire module are not shown.
- No imprimatur; single translator.
Cross references (14)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Isaiah 32:9–11; James 5:5; Luke 12:17–20; Amos 4:1; Zephaniah 1:12
- 2 Nahum 3:8; Genesis 10:10; 2 Kings 18:34; 2 Chronicles 26:6; Isaiah 10:9–11
- 3 Amos 9:10; Isaiah 56:12; Ezekiel 12:27; 1 Thessalonians 5:3; Amos 3:10
- 4 Amos 3:12; James 5:5; 1 Samuel 25:36–38; Ezekiel 34:2–3; Isaiah 5:11–12
- 5 Isaiah 5:12; Amos 5:23; Amos 8:3; Genesis 31:27; Ecclesiastes 2:8
- 6 Genesis 49:22; 1 Corinthians 12:26; 1 Timothy 5:23; 2 Kings 17:3–6; Jeremiah 30:7
- 7 Amos 7:11; Amos 5:5; 1 Kings 20:16–20; Daniel 5:4–6; Nahum 1:10
- 8 Jeremiah 51:14; Amos 4:2; Jeremiah 22:5; Psalm 47:4; Amos 8:7
- 9 Amos 5:3; Job 1:2; Esther 5:11; Psalm 109:13; 1 Samuel 2:33
- 10 Amos 8:3; 1 Samuel 31:12; Ezekiel 20:39; Amos 5:13; Numbers 17:12
- 11 Amos 3:15; Isaiah 55:11; 2 Kings 25:9; Amos 6:8; Luke 19:44
- 12 Amos 5:7; Hosea 10:4; Amos 5:11–12; Isaiah 59:13–14; 1 Kings 21:7–13
- 13 Luke 12:19–20; Isaiah 28:14–15; James 4:16; 2 Kings 14:25; Job 31:29
- 14 2 Kings 14:25; 1 Kings 8:65; Jeremiah 5:15–17; Numbers 34:7–8; 2 Kings 17:6
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
They thought that they had instruments of music like David; drinking wine in bowls, and anointing themselves with the costliest ointment: and they were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph." Suppose those men who, assuming to be themselves learned and eloquent, despise our prophets as untaught and unskillful of speech, had been obliged to deliver a message like this, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
Hear, at all events, how even apart from these things the prophet finds fault with them, thus speaking, "Woe to them that drink wine racked off, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments." Seest thou how He censures luxury too?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)