Chapter 6

“Those at Ease in Zion”

1 aWoe to those who are at ease in Zion

And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria,

The bdistinguished men of the foremost of nations,

To whom the house of Israel comes.

2 Go over to aCalneh and look,

And go from there to bHamath the great,

Then go down to cGath of the Philistines.

Are 1they better than these kingdoms,

Or is their territory greater than yours?

3 Do you aput off the day of calamity,

And would you bbring near the seat of violence?

4 Those who recline on beds of ivory

And sprawl on their acouches,

And beat lambs from the flock

And calves from the midst of the stall,

5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp,

And like David have 1composed asongs for themselves,

6 Who adrink wine from 1sacrificial bowls

While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils,

Yet they have not bgrieved over the ruin of Joseph.

7 Therefore, they will now ago into exile at the head of the exiles,

And the bsprawlers’ 1banqueting will 2pass away.

8 The Lord 1God has asworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts has declared:

“I bloathe the arrogance of Jacob,

And 2detest his ccitadels;

Therefore I will ddeliver up the city and 3all it contains.”

9 And it will be, if aten men are left in one house, they will die.

10 Then one’s 1uncle, or his 2aundertaker, 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 3answer, “bKeep quiet. For 4the name of the Lord is cnot to be mentioned.”

11 For behold, the Lord is going to acommand that the bgreat house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.

12 Do horses run on rocks?

Or does one plow 1them with oxen?

Yet you have turned ajustice into poison

And the fruit of righteousness into 2wormwood,

13 You who rejoice in 1aLodebar,

2And say, “Have we not bby our own strength taken 3Karnaim for ourselves?”

14 “For behold, aI am going to raise up a nation against you,

O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God of hosts,

“And they will afflict you from the bentrance of Hamath

To the bbrook of the Arabah.”