1 Woe ato you whoare at bease in Zion, And ctrust in Mount Samaria, Notable persons in the dchief nation, To whom the house of Israel comes!
2aGo over to bCalneh and see; And from there go to cHamath the great; Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. dAreyou better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3Woeto you who aput far off the day of bdoom, cWho cause dthe seat of violence to come near;
4 Who lie on beds of ivory, Stretch out on your couches, Eat lambs from the flock And calves from the midst of the stall;
5aWho sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments, And invent for yourselves bmusical instruments clike David;
6 Who adrink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, bBut are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7 Therefore they shall now go acaptive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
8aThe Lord God has sworn by Himself, The Lord God of hosts says: “I abhor bthe pride of Jacob, And hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city And all that is in it.”
9 Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.
10 And when1 a relative ofthedead, with one who will burn thebodies, picks up the2 bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Arethere any more with you?” Then someone will say, “None.” And he will say, a“Hold your tongue! bFor we dare not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For behold, athe Lord gives a command: bHe will break the great house into bits, And the little house into pieces.
12 Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow there with oxen? Yet ayou have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
13 You who rejoice over1 Lo Debar, Who say, “Have we not taken1 Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?”
14 “But, behold, aI will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” Says the Lord God of hosts; “And they will afflict you from the bentrance of Hamath To the Valley of the Arabah.”
Zion is often used as a symbol of God's church. Is the Laodicean at ease within the church? He is surely not at ease when he has an opportunity to make money! He will work all day and all night to fatten his purse. He loves to pursue his distracting hobbies and interests. But God spits him out in disgust! He is distasteful to God like lukewarm water, unable to be used for any real, spiritual, eternal purpose! The Laodicean, according to Amos, puts his trust in his own wealth and power, his nation and its leaders. Where is his trust in God?
In these two verses, Amos addresses the nation's leadership about the way they were living. Chief means “first.” They felt Israel was the chief nation on earth, and no other could withstand it. But God says the leaders of Israel were complacent, “at ease,” and the nation's citizens were following their examples.
The ordinary Israelite looked to the wealthy, powerful, and influential as models for their own behavior, and they saw self-indulgence, unfounded pride, moral degeneracy, and self-satisfaction. Another nation, the real “first nation,” would show Israel its true state by destroying it! Israel would be attacked from Hamath in the north to the Arabah in the south.
