1. Do you rulers in Jerusalemand in the city of Samariafeel safe and at ease?Everyone bows down to you,and you think you are betterthan any other nation.But you are in for trouble!
2. Look what happenedto the cities of Calneh,powerful Hamath,and Gath in Philistia.Are you greater than anyof those kingdoms?
3. You are cruel, and you forgetthe coming day of judgment.
4. You rich people lounge aroundon beds with ivory posts,while dining on the meatof your lambs and calves.
5. You sing foolish songsto the music of harps,and you make up new tunes,just as David used to do.
6. You drink all the wine you wantand wear expensive perfume,but you don't care aboutthe ruin of your nation.
7. So you will be the firstto be dragged off as captives;your good times will end.
8. The Lord God All-Powerfulhas sworn by his own name:“You descendants of Jacobmake me angry by your pride,and I hate your fortresses.And so I will surrender your cityand possessionsto your enemies.”
9. If only ten of you surviveby hiding in a houseyou will still die.
10. As you carry out a corpseto prepare it for burial,your relative in the housewill ask, “Are there others?”You will answer, “No!”Then your relative will reply,“Be quiet! Don't dare mentionthe name of the Lord.”
11. At the Lord's command,houses great and smallwill be smashed to pieces.
12. Horses can't gallop on rocks;oceans can't be ploughed.But you have turned justiceand fairnessinto bitter poison.
13. You celebrate the defeatof Lo-Debar and Karnaim,and you boast by saying,“We did it on our own.”
14. But the Lord God All-Powerfulwill send a nation to attackyou people of Israel.They will capture Lebo-Hamathin the north,Arabah Brook in the south,and everything in between.