Amos 6:1-7

Contemporary English Version

Israel Will Be Punished

6 Do you rulers in Jerusalem
and in the city of Samaria
    feel safe and at ease?
Everyone bows down to you,
and you think you are better
    than any other nation.
But you are in for trouble!
²Look what happened
    to the cities of Calneh,
    powerful Hamath,
    and Gath^[a] in Philistia.
Are you greater than any
    of those kingdoms?
³You are cruel, and you forget
    the coming day of judgment.

⁴You rich people lounge around
    on beds with ivory posts,
while dining on the meat
    of your lambs and calves.
⁵You sing foolish songs
    to the music of harps,
and you make up new tunes,
    just as David used to do.
⁶You drink all the wine you want
    and wear expensive perfume,
but you don't care about
    the ruin of your nation.^[b]
⁷So you will be the first
to be dragged off as captives;
    your good times will end.

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Footnotes

6.2 Calneh … Hamath … Gath: City-states captured by the Assyrians: Calneh in 738 b.c., Hamath in 720, and Gath in 711.
6.6 your nation: Hebrew “Joseph's descendants” (see the note at 5.6).