1 »Those who are at ease in Zion and are secure in the mountain of Samaria will have trouble. You are the notable men of the foremost nations to whom the house of Israel comes!
2 »Travel to Calneh and observe. From there go to the great Hamath. Then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better off than these kingdoms? Is their territory greater than your territory?
3 »You put far away the evil day and cause the place of violence to come near.
4 »You lie on beds of ivory, and stretch on couches. You eat the the best lambs out of the flock and the fattest calves out of the stall.
5 »You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David you improvise on musical instruments.
6 »You drink wine in bowls, and anoint yourselves with the finest oils. But you are not grieved because of the affliction of Joseph.
7 »Therefore you will be captured with the first that go captive. Your feasting and lounging will pass away.«
8 The Lord Jehovah has sworn by himself. Jehovah, the God of Hosts declares: »I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces. Therefore I will deliver up the city with all that is in it.
9 »It will happen! If there remain ten men in one house, they will die.
10 »When a man's uncle takes the body to be burned and brings the bones out of the house he will say to the innermost parts of the house: Is there yet any one here? And he will say, No. Then he will say: Hold your peace. We may not make mention of the name of Jehovah.
11 »For, behold, Jehovah commanded, and the great house will be struck to pieces and the little house to tiny bits.
12 »Do horses run upon the rock? Will one plow there with cattle? You have turned justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood bitterness!
13 »You who rejoice in Lodebar, you say, have we not by our own strength taken Karnaim?
14 »For, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel,« said Jehovah, the God of Hosts. »They will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the Arabah.«