6
How terrible it will be for you men who are so contented on Mount Zion!
How terrible for you who feel secure
on the hill of Samaria!
You are famous men from the greatest nation.
The people of Israel come to you
for help and advice.
2 Go and look at the city of Kalneh.
Go from there to the great city of Hamath.
Then go down to Gath in Philistia.
Are those places better off than your two kingdoms?
Is their land larger than yours?
3 You are trying to avoid the time
when trouble will come.
But you are only bringing closer
the Assyrian rule of terror.
4 You lie down on beds
that are decorated with ivory.
You rest on your couches.
You eat the best lambs
and the fattest calves.
5 You pluck away on your harps as David did.
You play new songs on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful.
You use the finest lotions.
But Joseph's people will soon be destroyed.
And you aren't even sad about it.
7 So you will be among the first
to be taken away as prisoners.
You won't be able to enjoy good food.
You won't lie around on couches anymore.
8 The Lord and King has made a promise in his own name. He is the Lord God who rules over all. He announces,
‘I hate the pride of Jacob's people.
I can't stand their forts.
I will hand the city of Samaria
and everything in it over to their enemies.’
9 Ten people might be left in one house. If they are, they will die there. 10 Relatives might come to burn the dead bodies. If they do, they'll have to carry them out of the house first. They might ask someone still hiding there, ‘Is anyone else here with you?’ If the answer is no, the relatives will go on to say, ‘Be quiet! We must not pray in the Lord's name.’
11 That's because the Lord has already given an order.
He will smash large houses to pieces.
He will crush small houses to bits.
12 Horses don't run on rocky ground.
People don't plough the sea with oxen.
But you have turned fair treatment into poison.
You have turned the fruit of right living into bitterness.
13 You are happy because you captured the town of Lo Debar.
You say, ‘We were strong enough to take Karnaim too.’
14 But the Lord God rules over all. He announces, ‘People of Israel,
I will stir up a nation against you.
They will crush you from Lebo Hamath
all the way down to the Arabah Valley.’
3:1–6:14 The people and leaders of the northern kingdom treated people badly. This was the main sin that Amos talked about. Treating people badly was very common while King Jeroboam the second ruled the northern kingdom. This king ruled many years after the first King Jeroboam ruled. In Amos' time, Jeroboam's army had won many victories over the nations around them. The northern kingdom had grown large and many people had become wealthy. They had also become full of pride. They treated people badly in many ways. They stopped prophets from sharing God's messages. They stopped Nazirites from keeping their promises to God. Men committed sexual sins with and against girls. The people and leaders stole things. They stored up more and more things for themselves. They did this even though some people didn't have enough. Those who were rich took advantage of needy people. They charged unfair prices that poor people couldn't pay. Then they made poor people slaves when they couldn't pay their debts. Those who were rich didn't allow poor people their rights in court. They cared about being rich and comfortable. They didn't care about justice or doing good to others. This showed that they weren't worshipping and obeying God with all their heart. They pretended to worship God. They offered some of the sacrifices and offerings talked about in the Law of Moses. They celebrated some of the feasts described in the Mount Sinai covenant. But they didn't follow God's rules about how to treat others. The main law about that was recorded in Leviticus 19:18. It said that God's people were to love their neighbours as they loved themselves. And the people and leaders of the northern kingdom didn't worship only God. They worshipped statues of metal calves on altars in the city of Bethel. The people and leaders also worshipped Baal in a temple in Samaria. God had allowed some of the covenant curses to come to the northern kingdom. He did this to warn them to turn away from their sins. God wanted his people to treat others fairly and to do what is right. But the people refused to repent and turn back to God. This made God very angry. Amos described God's anger like the loud roar of a lion.