1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure in the hill country of Samaria, the notable men of the best of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes for help! 2 Your leaders say, “Go to Kalneh and look; from there go to Hamath, the great city; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than your two kingdoms? Is their border larger than your border?” 3 Woe to those who put off the day of disaster and make the throne of violence come near. 4 They lie on beds of ivory and lounge on their couches. They eat lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. 5 They sing foolish songs to the music of the harp; they improvise on instruments as David did. 6 They drink wine from bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 7 So they will now go into exile with the first exiles, and the feasts of those who lounge about will pass away. 8 “I, the Lord Yahweh, have sworn by myself —this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts, I detest the pride of Jacob; I hate his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.” 9 It will come about that if there are ten men left in one house, they will all die. 10 When a man's relative comes to take their bodies up—the one who is to cremate them after bringing the corpses out of the house—if he says to the person in the house, “Is there anyone with you?” What if that person says, “No.” Then he will say, “Be quiet, for we must not mention Yahweh's name.” 11 For, look, Yahweh will give a command, and the big house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house to bits. 12 Do horses run on the rocky cliffs? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness. 13 You who rejoice over Lo Debar, who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim by our own strength?” 14 “But look, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts. They will afflict you from Lebo Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.”
Amos 6 Unlocked Literal Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
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)