1. Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria,you notable men of the foremost nation,to whom the people of Israel come!
2. Go to Kalneh and look at it;go from there to great Hamath,and then go down to Gath in Philistia.Are they better off than your two kingdoms?Is their land larger than yours?
3. You put off the day of disasterand bring near a reign of terror.
4. You lie on beds adorned with ivoryand lounge on your couches.You dine on choice lambsand fattened calves.
5. You strum away on your harps like Davidand improvise on musical instruments.
6. You drink wine by the bowlfuland use the finest lotions,but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile;your feasting and lounging will end.
8. The Sovereign Lord has sworn by himself – the Lord God Almighty declares:‘I abhor the pride of Jacoband detest his fortresses;I will deliver up the cityand everything in it.’
9. If ten people are left in one house, they too will die.
10. And if the relative who comes to carry the bodies out of the house to burn them asks anyone who might be hiding there, ‘Is anyone else with you?’ and he says, ‘No,’ then he will go on to say, ‘Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.’
11. For the Lord has given the command,and he will smash the great house into piecesand the small house into bits.
12. Do horses run on the rocky crags?Does one plough the sea with oxen?But you have turned justice into poisonand the fruit of righteousness into bitterness –
13. you who rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debarand say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’
14. For the Lord God Almighty declares,‘I will stir up a nation against you, Israel,that will oppress you all the wayfrom Lebo Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.’