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6. Woe to the Complacent

¹ Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
   and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
you notable men of the foremost nation,
   to whom the people of Israel come!
² Go to Kalneh and look at it;
   go from there to great Hamath,
   and then go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are they better off than your two kingdoms?
   Is their land larger than yours?
³ You put off the day of disaster
   and bring near a reign of terror.
⁴ You lie on beds adorned with ivory
   and lounge on your couches.
You dine on choice lambs
   and fattened calves.
⁵ You strum away on your harps like David
   and improvise on musical instruments.
⁶ You drink wine by the bowlful
   and use the finest lotions,
   but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
⁷ Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;
   your feasting and lounging will end.

The LORD Abhors the Pride of Israel

⁸ The Sovereign LORD has sworn by himself—the LORD God Almighty declares:

   “I abhor the pride of Jacob
   and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
   and everything in it.”

⁹ If ten people are left in one house, they too will die. ¹⁰ And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them Or to make a funeral fire in honor of the dead asks anyone who might be hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” and he says, “No,” then he will go on to say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the LORD.”

    ¹¹ For the LORD has given the command,
   and he will smash the great house into pieces
   and the small house into bits.

    ¹² Do horses run on the rocky crags?
   Does one plow the sea With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text plow there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
   and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
¹³ you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar Lo Debar means nothing.
   and say, “Did we not take Karnaim Karnaim means horns; horn here symbolizes strength. by our own strength?”

    ¹⁴ For the LORD God Almighty declares,
   “I will stir up a nation against you, Israel,
that will oppress you all the way
   from Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.”

Amos now reproaches the chiefs of both kingdoms for drinking wine in bowls, that is, in vessels either elegantly formed or precious. Some think “silver” to be understood “in vessels of silver:” but there is no need of regarding any thing as understood in the Prophet’s words. The meaning is, that those men were sufficiently convicted of brutish stupidity, inasmuch as they did not forsake their indulgences, when God manifested his terrible vengeance. Since God then did thus what tended to humble them, their madness and blindness were conspicuous enough; for they indulged themselves, they drank wine according to their usual custom, when they ought to have betaken themselves, as we have said, to fasting, lamentation, and mourning, to sackcloth and ashes.

They drank wine in bowls, and further, they anointed themselves with the chief ointments Christ, we know, was anointed at least twice, (Luke 7:38 Matthew 26:7) and this practice was not blamed in David, nor in king Hezekiah, nor in others. Since then anointing was not in itself sinful, we see that the Prophet must have something particular in view. He meant to show, that when God manifested tokens of his wrath, nothing then remained for those who were conscious of having done evil, but humbly to abstain, like guilty persons, from all indulgences, that they might, by fasting and mourning, excite the mercy of God: as the Israelites had not done this, the Prophet expostulated with them. There is no need of seeking, any other interpretation of this place.

For he immediately subjoins, that they grieved not for the bruising of Joseph These words are to be read in connection with the former, and ought to be applied to the whole discourse. The Prophet then does not specifically blame the Jews and Israelites because they drank wine in bowls, because they anointed themselves with the best and most precious ointment, because they reposed on ivory beds, because they extended themselves on their couches, because they ate the best meat; but because they securely indulged in such delights, and grieved not for the distress of their brethren, for God had miserably afflicted the whole kingdom before their eyes. How much had four tribes already suffered? and how much the whole land and those who lived in the country? Ought God to have spared any longer these chiefs? It is indeed certain, that those who were still free from these calamities were especially culpable. Since then they did not consider the wrath of God, which was evident enough before their eyes, it was a proof of stupidity wholly insane, and showed them who still indulged themselves to have been utterly besides themselves.