Amos 6:8-14

8 1The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the LORD, the God of hosts: "I abhor 2the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, 3and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it."
9 And 4if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
10 And when one's relative, 5the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, "Is there still anyone with you?" he shall say, "No"; and he shall say, 6"Silence! We must not mention the name of the LORD."
11 For behold, the LORD commands, and 7the great house shall be struck down into fragments, and the little house into bits.
12 Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there[a] with oxen? 8But you have turned justice into 9poison 10and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood[b]--
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[c] who say, 11"Have we not by our own strength captured Karnaim[d] for ourselves?"
14 "For behold, 12I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel," declares the LORD, the God of hosts; "and they shall oppress you from 13Lebo-hamath to the Brook of 14the Arabah."

Amos 6:8-14 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 14

Footnotes 4

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.