Minor Prophets · Chapter 6 of 9

Amos 6

Amos pronounces woe on the complacent elite of Zion and Samaria, who feel secure in their power and lounge in luxury while ignoring the ruin of Joseph. They lie on ivory beds, feast, sing, and anoint themselves, but are not grieved for the affliction of the nation. Because they trust their own strength and pervert justice, they will be the first to go into exile.

What happens in Amos 6

Amos cries woe over those at ease in Zion and secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable leaders of the leading nation. He tells them to look at other fallen cities and ask whether they are really safer. They push away the thought of reckoning while hastening the reign of violence. He paints their decadence: reclining on beds of ivory, eating choice lambs and calves, improvising songs like David, drinking wine by the bowlful, and anointing themselves with fine oils, yet feeling no grief over the affliction of Joseph, their own people's ruin.

Therefore they will be the first into exile, and their revelry will end. God swears he abhors the pride of Jacob and will hand over the city. He pictures households wiped out, forbids even naming the LORD in the ruins, and mocks their boast that they took power by their own strength. A nation will be raised up to afflict them from end to end.

Amos 6 in context

This woe oracle targets the self satisfied upper class of both Judah and Israel during a time of prosperity and military success under Jeroboam the Second. Their confidence rested on wealth, comfort, and recent victories.

Amos condemns not luxury alone but the callousness that enjoys abundance while indifferent to the suffering and coming ruin of the nation, the affliction of Joseph.

Main themes of Amos 6

Amos 6 (KJV)

1Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! 2Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? 3Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; 4That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; 5That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; 6That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. 7Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. 8The 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. 9And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. 10And 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. 11For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts. 12Shall 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: 13Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? 14But, 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 of the wilderness.

Verses to carry from Amos 6

“Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!”Amos 6:1

“That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.”Amos 6:6

“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.”Amos 6:8

Reflection

Amos indicts not villains but comfortable people who simply stopped caring. The affliction of Joseph unfolded around them while they feasted, untroubled. Ask yourself where comfort may be numbing your compassion. Whose suffering is near your gate that you have grown skilled at not seeing?

A prayer from Amos 6