Amos 6:8-14

Other Translations of Amos 6:8-14

King James Version

⁸ The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the Lord the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein. ⁹ And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. ¹⁰ And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the Lord. ¹¹ For, behold, the Lord commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, breaches: or, droppings and the little house with clefts. ¹² Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: ¹³ Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? ¹⁴ But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river river: or, valley of the wilderness.

English Standard Version

⁸ The Lord GOD has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts: "I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it." ⁹ And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. ¹⁰ And when one's relative, the 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, "Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord." ¹¹ For behold, the Lord commands, and the great house shall be struck down into fragments, and the little house into bits. ¹² Do horses run on rocks? Does one plow thereOr the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwoodOr into bitter fruit-- ¹³ you who rejoice in Lo-debar,Lo-debar means nothing who say, "Have we not by our own strength captured KarnaimKarnaim means horns (a symbol of strength) for ourselves?" ¹⁴ "For behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel," declares the Lord, the God of hosts; "and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah."

The Message

⁸ God, the Master, has sworn, and solemnly stands by his Word. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies speaks: "I hate the arrogance of Jacob. I have nothing but contempt for his forts. I'm about to hand over the city and everyone in it." ⁹ Ten men are in a house, all dead. ¹⁰ A relative comes and gets the bodies to prepare them for a decent burial. He discovers a survivor huddled in a closet and asks, "Are there any more?" The answer: "Not a soul. But hush! God must not be mentioned in this desecrated place." ¹¹ Note well: God issues the orders. He'll knock large houses to smithereens. He'll smash little houses to bits. ¹² Do you hold a horse race in a field of rocks? Do you plow the sea with oxen? You'd cripple the horses and drown the oxen. And yet you've made a shambles of justice, a bloated corpse of righteousness, ¹³ Bragging of your trivial pursuits, beating up on the weak and crowing, "Look what I've done!" ¹⁴ "Enjoy it while you can, you Israelites. I've got a pagan army on the move against you" - this is your God speaking, God-of-the-Angel-Armies - "And they'll make hash of you, from one end of the country to the other."

New King James Version

⁸ The Lord God has sworn by Himself, The Lord God of hosts says: "I abhor the 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 when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, "Are there any more with you?" Then someone will say, "None." And he will say, "Hold your tongue! For we dare not mention the name of the Lord." ¹¹ For behold, the Lord gives a command: He 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 you have turned justice into gall, And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood, ¹³ You who rejoice over Lo Debar, Who say, "Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves By our own strength?" ¹⁴ "But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel," Says the Lord God of hosts; "And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath To the Valley of the Arabah."

New Living Translation

⁸ The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his own name, and this is what he, the Lord God of Heaven's Armies, says: "I despise the arrogance of Israel, and I hate their fortresses. I will give this city and everything in it to their enemies." ⁹ (If there are ten men left in one house, they will all die. ¹⁰ And when a relative who is responsible to dispose of the dead goes into the house to carry out the bodies, he will ask the last survivor, "Is anyone else with you?" When the person begins to swear, "No, by . . . ," he will interrupt and say, "Stop! Don't even mention the name of the Lord .") ¹¹ When the Lord gives the command, homes both great and small will be smashed to pieces. ¹² Can horses gallop over boulders? Can oxen be used to plow them? But that's how foolish you are when you turn justice into poison and the sweet fruit of righteousness into bitterness. ¹³ And you brag about your conquest of Lo-debar. You boast, "Didn't we take Karnaim by our own strength?" ¹⁴ "O people of Israel, I am about to bring an enemy nation against you," says the Lord God of Heaven's Armies. "They will oppress you throughout your land- from Lebo-hamath in the north to the Arabah Valley in the south."