Woe to the Complacent
1Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
and to those who feel secure on the hill of Samaria —
the notable people in this first of the nations,
those the house of Israel comes to.
2Cross over to Calneh and see;
go from there to great Hamath;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?
3You dismiss any thought of the evil day
and bring in a reign of violence.
4They lie on beds inlaid with ivory,
sprawled out on their couches,
and dine on lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall.
5They improvise songs to the sound of the harp
and invent their own musical instruments like David.
6They drink wine by the bowlful
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7Therefore, they will now go into exile
as the first of the captives,
and the feasting of those who sprawl out
will come to an end.
Israel’s Pride Judged
8The Lord God has sworn by himself — this is the declaration of the Lord, the God of Armies:
I loathe Jacob’s pride
and hate his citadels,
so I will hand over the city and everything in it.
9And if there are ten men left in one house, they will die. 10A close relative and burner will remove his corpse from the house. He will call to someone in the inner recesses of the house, “Any more with you?”
That person will reply, “None.”
Then he will say, “Silence, because the Lord’s name must not be invoked.”
11For the Lord commands:
The large house will be smashed to pieces,
and the small house to rubble.
12Do horses gallop on the cliffs?
Does anyone plow there with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood —
13you who rejoice over Lo-debar
and say, “Didn’t we capture Karnaim
for ourselves by our own strength?”
14But look, I am raising up a nation
against you, house of Israel —
this is the declaration of the Lord,
the God of Armies —
and they will oppress you
from the entrance of Hamath
to the Brook of the Arabah.