1 W o those secure in Zion, And those confident in the mount of Samaria, The marked of the chief of the nations, And come to them have the house of Israel.

2 P ass ye over Calneh and see, And go thence Hamath the great, And go down Gath of the Philistines, Are better than these kingdoms? Greater their border than your border?

3 W ho are putting away the day of evil, And ye bring nigh the seat of violence,

4 W ho are lying down on beds of ivory, And are spread out on their couches, And are eating lambs from the flock, And calves from the midst of the stall,

5 W ho are taking part according to the psaltery, Like David they invented for themselves instruments of music;

6 W ho are drinking with bowls of wine, And chief perfumes anoint, And have not been pained for the breach of Joseph.

7 T herefore now they remove at the head of the captives, And turned aside is the mourning-feast of stretched-out ones.

8 S worn hath the Lord Jehovah by Himself, An affirmation of Jehovah, God of Hosts: I am abominating the excellency of Jacob, And his high places I have hated, And I have delivered up the city and its fulness.

9 A nd if there are left ten persons in one house, It hath come to pass -- that they have died.

10 A nd lifted him up hath his loved one, even his burner, To bring forth the bones from the house, And he said to him who in the sides of the house, `Is there yet with thee?' And he said, `None,' then he said, `Hush! Save to make mention of the name of Jehovah.'

11 F or lo, Jehovah is commanding, And He hath smitten the great house breaches, And the little house clefts.

12 D o horses run on a rock? Doth one plough with oxen? For ye have turned to gall judgment, And the fruit of righteousness to wormwood.

13 O ye who are rejoicing at nothing, Who are saying, `Have we not by our strength taken to ourselves horns?'

14 S urely, lo, I am raising against you a nation, O house of Israel, An affirmation of Jehovah, God of Hosts, And they have oppressed you from the coming in to Hamath, Unto the stream of the desert.