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and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria—
you notable men in this foremost nation,
those to whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Cross over to Calneh and see;
go from there to great Hamath;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory larger than yours?
3 You put off the evil day,
and bring near a reign of violence.
4 You lie on beds inlaid with ivory
and lounge on your couches,
dining on lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall.
5 You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp like David,
and improvise with musical instruments.
6 You drink wine by the bowlful
and anoint yourselves with the finest oils,
but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore you will now go into exile
as the first of the captives,
and your feasting whilst sprawled out on lounges
will come to an end.
8 The Lord God has sworn by Himself—the Lord, the God of Hosts, declares:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob
and detest his fortresses;
I will deliver up the city
and everything in it.”
9 Then if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die. 10 And if a relative comes to retrieve the bodies from the house and burn them, he will call out to someone hiding there, “Is anyone else with you?” And he will answer, “No.” Then he will say, “Hush! We must not invoke the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord has given the command,
and He will smash the large house to pieces,
and the small house to bits.
12 Do horses gallop on the rocky crags?
Does one plough there with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
13 you who rejoice over Lo-debar
and say, “Have we not captured Karnaim for ourselves by our own strength?”
14 “Behold, I am raising up a nation against you, O house of Israel,”
the Lord declares,
“and they will oppress you all the way
from the entrance to Hamath to the valley of the Arabah.”