6:1 Woe to those who are carefree in Zion,
And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
The dignitaries of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
6:2 Go over to Calneh and look,
And go from there to Hamath the great,
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are ①they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than yours?
▷ ①Or you
6:3 Are you postponing the day of disaster,
And would you bring near the seat of violence?
6:4 Those who lie on beds of ivory,
And lounge around on their couches,
And eat lambs from the flock,
And calves from the midst of the fattened cattle,
6:5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp,
And like David have ①composed songs for themselves,
▷ ①Or invented musical instruments
6:6 Who drink wine from sacred bowls
While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils—
Yet they have not grieved over the collapse of Joseph.
6:7 Therefore, they will now go into exile at the head of the exiles,
And the revelry of those who lounge around will come to an end.
6:8 The Lord ①GOD has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of armies has declared:
“I loathe the arrogance of Jacob,
And ②detest his citadels;
Therefore I will give up the city and ③all it contains.”
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD ②Lit hate ③Lit its fullness
6:9 And it will be, if ten men are left in one house, they will die.
6:10 Then one’s ①uncle, or his undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will ②answer, “Keep quiet! For ③the name of the LORD is not to be mentioned.”
▷ ①Or beloved one ②Lit say ③Lit not to make mention in the name of
6:11 For behold, the LORD is going to command that the great house be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.
6:12 Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one ①plow them with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into poison,
And the fruit of righteousness into ②wormwood,
▷ ①Another reading is plow the sea with oxen ②I.e., bitterness
6:13 You who rejoice in ①Lodebar,
②And say, “Have we not by our own strength taken ③Karnaim for ourselves?”
▷ ①Lit nothing ②Lit Who say ③Lit a pair of horns
6:14 “For behold, I am going to raise up a nation against you,
House of Israel,” declares the LORD God of armies,
“And they will torment you from the entrance of Hamath
To the brook of the Arabah.”