Amos 6:1-9

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.

Amos 6:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 6

This chapter seems to be directed both to the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the ten tribes of Israel, under the names of Zion and Samaria, and to the principal men in both; who are reproved and threatened for their carnal security and self-confidence, being in no fear of the evil day, though they had no reason for it no more than other people, Am 6:1-3; are charged with wantonness, luxury, intemperance, and want of sympathy with those in distress, Am 6:4-6; therefore are threatened to be carried captive first, and their city to be delivered up; which, for the certainty of it, is not only said, but swore to, Am 6:7,8; and a great mortality in every house, and the destruction of all houses, both great and small, Am 6:9-11; and since a reformation of them seemed impracticable, and not to be expected, but they gloried in their wealth, and boasted of their strength, therefore they should be afflicted by a foreign nation raised against them, which affliction should be general, from one end of the country to the other, Am 6:12-14.

Cross References 26

  • 1. Luke 6:24
  • 2. Zephaniah 1:12
  • 3. S Job 24:23
  • 4. S Amos 3:9
  • 5. Isaiah 32:9-11
  • 6. S Genesis 10:10
  • 7. S 2 Kings 17:24; S Jeremiah 49:23; 2 Kings 18:34
  • 8. S Joshua 11:22; 2 Chronicles 26:6
  • 9. Nahum 3:8
  • 10. S Isaiah 56:12; S Ezekiel 12:22; Amos 9:10
  • 11. S Esther 1:6; S Proverbs 7:17
  • 12. S Isaiah 1:11; S Ezekiel 34:2-3; S Amos 3:12
  • 13. S Psalms 137:2; S Isaiah 14:11; Isaiah 5:12; Amos 5:23
  • 14. S 1 Chronicles 15:16
  • 15. S Isaiah 28:1; S Amos 2:8
  • 16. S Ezekiel 9:4
  • 17. S Ezekiel 16:49
  • 18. S Amos 5:27
  • 19. S Jeremiah 16:9; S Lamentations 4:5
  • 20. S Genesis 22:16; Hebrews 6:13
  • 21. S Leviticus 26:30
  • 22. S Psalms 47:4
  • 23. S Jeremiah 12:8
  • 24. Amos 4:2
  • 25. S Leviticus 26:19; Deuteronomy 32:19
  • 26. S Amos 5:3
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