the Fourth Week of Advent
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New Century Version
Amos 6
Israel Will Be Destroyed
1 How terrible it will be for those who have an easy life in Jerusalem,
for those who feel safe living on Mount Samaria.
You think you are the important people of the best nation in the world;
the Israelites come to you for help.
2 Go look at the city of Calneh,
and from there go to the great city Hamath;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
You are no better than these kingdoms.
Your land is no larger than theirs.
3 You put off the day of punishment,
but you bring near the day when you can do evil to others.
4 You lie on beds decorated with ivory
and stretch out on your couches.
You eat tender lambs
and fattened calves.
5 You make up songs on your harps,
and, like David, you compose songs on musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful
and use the best perfumed lotions.
But you are not sad over the ruin of Israel,
7 so you will be some of the first ones taken as slaves.
Your feasting and lying around will come to an end.
8 The Lord God made this promise; the Lord God All-Powerful says:
"I hate the pride of the Israelites,
and I hate their strong buildings,
so I will let the enemy take the city
and everything in it."
9 At that time there might be only ten people left alive in just one house, but they will also die. 10 When the relatives come to get the bodies to take them outside, one of them will call to the other and ask, "Are there any other dead bodies with you?"
That person will answer, "No."
Then the one who asked will say, "Hush! We must not say the name of the Lord."
11 The Lord has given the command;
the large house will be broken into pieces,
and the small house into bits.
12 Horses do not run on rocks,
and people do not plow rocks with oxen.
But you have changed fairness into poison;
you have changed what is right into a bitter taste.
13 You are happy that the town of Lo Debar was captured,
and you say, "We have taken Karnaim[a] by our own strength."
14 The Lord God All-Powerful says,
"Israel, I will bring a nation against you
that will make your people suffer from Lebo Hamath in the north
to the valley south of the Dead Sea."
New Century Version
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
