6:1 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who are secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel come!
6:2 Go to Calneh, and see; and from there go 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?
6:3 Those who put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;
6:4 Who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall;
6:5 who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
6:6 who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best oils; but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
6:7 Therefore they will now go captive with the first who go captive; and the feasting and lounging will end.
6:8 “The Lord Yahweh has sworn by himself,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies: “I abhor the pride of Jacob, and detest his fortresses. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
6:9 It will happen, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die.
6:10 “When a man’s relative carries him, even he who burns him, to bring bodies out of the house, and asks him who is in the innermost parts of the house, ‘Is there yet any with you?’ And he says, ‘No;’ then he will say, ‘Hush! Indeed we must not mention the name of Yahweh.’
6:11 “For, behold, Yahweh commands, and the great house will be smashed to pieces, and the little house into bits.
6:12 Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;
6:13 you who rejoice in a thing of nothing, who say, ‘Haven’t we taken for ourselves horns by our own strength?’
6:14 For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel,” says Yahweh, the God of Armies; “and they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.”
7:1 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: and behold, he formed locusts in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and behold, it was the latter growth after the king’s harvest.
7:2 It happened that, when they made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, “Lord Yahweh, forgive, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”
7:3 Yahweh relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says Yahweh.
7:4 Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me and behold, the Lord Yahweh called for judgment by fire; and it dried up the great deep, and would have devoured the land.
7:5 Then I said, “Lord Yahweh, stop, I beg you! How could Jacob stand? For he is small.”
7:6 Yahweh relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord Yahweh.
7:7 Thus he showed me and behold, the Lord stood beside a wall made by a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand.
7:8 Yahweh said to me, “Amos, what do you see?” I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold, I will set a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.
7:9 The high places of Isaac will be desolate, the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words.
7:11 For Amos says, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’”
7:12 Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go, flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
7:13 but don’t prophesy again any more at Bethel; for it is the king’s sanctuary, and it is a royal house!”
7:14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet’s son; but I was a herdsman, and a farmer of sycamore figs;
7:15 and Yahweh took me from following the flock, and Yahweh said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’
7:16 Now therefore listen to the word of Yahweh: ‘You say, Don’t prophesy against Israel, and don’t preach against the house of Isaac.’
7:17 Therefore thus says Yahweh: ‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city, and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you yourself shall die in a land that is unclean, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of his land.’”