Woe to Those at Ease in Zion (Luke 6:24–26)
1 UST Terrible things will happen to you people in Zion who do not worry about anything, and also to you leaders in the city of Samaria who think that you are safe there. You are the prominent men of{ Israel,} the nation that thinks it is the most important nation of all. You are the men to whom the people of Israel come{ for you to help them}. BSB BSB: Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
2 UST Go and look at the city of Calneh. Then go on to the city of Hamath Rabbah, and then go down to the city of Gath in Philistia. Those cities are not better than your kingdoms, and their territory is not larger than yours. BSB BSB: Cross over to Calneh and see; go from there to the great Hamath; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Is their territory larger than yours?
3 UST { Terrible things will happen to} you who refuse to think about the day when Yahweh will punish you, but by your own actions you are shortening the time before violent people will come and rule over you. BSB BSB: You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence.
5 UST { Terrible things will happen to} you who sing idly to the sound of your harps and try to be like King David by inventing musical instruments for yourselves. BSB BSB: You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
6 UST { Terrible things will happen to} you who drink wine by the bowlful and rub the finest oils on your skin, but who do not grieve at all that the descendants of Joseph are destroying themselves. BSB BSB: You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
7 UST Because of all of that, soon you will be among the first ones whom your enemies will force to go into exile, and your feasting and lounging on couches will come to an end. BSB BSB: Therefore, you will now go into exile as the first of the captives, and your feasting and lounging will come to an end.
The Pride of Israel 8 UST The Lord Yahweh has solemnly sworn this on his own life. Yes, Yahweh,{ the commander} of the heavenly armies, declares it,“I despise{ the nation} of which the descendants of Jacob are so proud, and I hate their fortresses. So I will deliver each city and everyone in it{ to their enemies}.” BSB BSB: The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
9 UST When that happens, even if only ten men remain in a single house, they will all die. BSB BSB: And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die.
10 UST A dead man’s relative, the one who will burn his corpse, will carry the dead body out of the house. He will call to anyone still{ hiding} in the farthest corner of the house,“Is anyone else there with you?” That person will answer,“No one.” Then the relative will say,“Say no more! Especially we must not mention Yahweh’s name!” BSB BSB: And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?” “None,” that person will answer. “Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of the LORD must not be invoked.”
11 UST The reason is this: Yahweh is about to command{ the enemy soldiers to attack you}, and they will shatter all the houses, from large to small ones, into little pieces. BSB BSB: For the LORD gives a command: “The great house will be smashed to pieces, and the small house to rubble.”
12 UST Horses do not gallop on rocky cliffs, and no one plows there with oxen. Yet you have done something{ even more absurd}: instead of treating people justly, you kill them, and instead of doing good things for each other, you make each other angry and resentful. BSB BSB: “Do horses gallop on the cliffs? Does one plow the sea with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—
13 UST You are proud because you captured the town of Lo Debar, and you boast,“We captured the town of Karnaim for ourselves because we are so strong!” BSB BSB: you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say, ‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’
14 UST But this is what Yahweh,{ the commander} of the heavenly armies, declares,“Listen, you people of Israel! I am about to bring a foreign nation to attack you. Its army will oppress you{ throughout your entire land,} from Lebo Hamath{ in the far north} to the brook of the Arabah{ in the far south}.” BSB BSB: For behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD, the God of Hosts, “and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”