Amos 6:4-14

4 Those who recline on beds of ivory And sprawl on their 1couches, And 2eat 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 composed 3songs for themselves,
6 Who 4drink wine from sacrificial bowls While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils, Yet they have not 5grieved over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now 6go into exile at the head of the exiles, And the 7sprawlers' banqueting will pass away.
8 The Lord GOD has 8sworn by Himself, the LORD God of hosts has declared: "I 9loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his 10citadels; Therefore I will 11deliver up the city and all it contains."
9 And it will be, if 12ten men are left in one house, they will die.
10 Then one's uncle, or his 13undertaker, 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 answer, "14Keep quiet. For the name of the LORD is 15not to be mentioned."
11 For behold, the LORD is going to 16command that the 17great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.
12 Do horses run on rocks? Or does one plow them with oxen? Yet you have turned 18justice into poison And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
13 You who rejoice in 19Lodebar, And say, "Have we not 20by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?"
14 "For behold, 21I 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 22entrance of Hamath To the 23brook of the Arabah."

Amos 6:4-14 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 23

  • 1. Amos 3:12
  • 2. Ezekiel 34:2, 3
  • 3. 1 Chronicles 15:16; 1 Chronicles 23:5; Isaiah 5:12
  • 4. Amos 2:8; Amos 4:1
  • 5. Ezekiel 9:4
  • 6. Amos 7:11, 17
  • 7. 1 Kings 20:16-21; Dan 5:4-6, 30
  • 8. Genesis 22:16; Jeremiah 22:5; Jeremiah 51:14; Amos 4:2; Amos 8:7
  • 9. Leviticus 26:30; Deuteronomy 32:19; Psalms 106:40; Amos 5:21
  • 10. Amos 3:10, 11
  • 11. Hosea 11:6
  • 12. Amos 5:3
  • 13. 1 Samuel 31:12
  • 14. Amos 5:13; Amos 8:3
  • 15. Jeremiah 44:26; Ezekiel 20:39
  • 16. Isaiah 55:11
  • 17. 2 Kings 25:9; Amos 3:15; Amos 5:11
  • 18. 1 Kings 21:7-13; Isaiah 59:13, 14; Hosea 10:4; Amos 5:7, 11, 12
  • 19. Job 8:14, 15; Psalms 2:2-4; Luke 12:19, 20
  • 20. Psalms 75:4, 5; Isaiah 28:14, 15
  • 21. Jeremiah 5:15
  • 22. Numbers 34:7, 8; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25
  • 23. Numbers 34:7, 8; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25

Footnotes 16

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