‏ Amos 3

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

1 aHear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2 b“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
ctherefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
3“Do two walk together,
unless they have agreed to meet?
4Does a lion roar in the forest,
when he has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from his den,
if he has taken nothing?
5Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
when there is no trap for it?
Does a snare spring up from the ground,
when it has taken nothing?
6 dIs a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
eDoes disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7For the Lord God does nothing
fwithout revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
gThe Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9Proclaim to the strongholds in hAshdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on ithe mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and jthe oppressed in her midst.”
10“They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
k“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

11Therefore thus says the Lord God:

l“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down
Hebrew  An adversary, one who surrounds the land—he shall bring down
your defenses from you,
and nyour strongholds shall be plundered.”

12Thus says the Lord: o“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, pso shall the people of Israel qwho dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part
The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
of a bed.

13Hear, sand testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, tthe God of hosts,
14that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
uI will punish the altars of Bethel,
and vthe horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 wI will strike xthe winter house along with ythe summer house,
and zthe houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses
Or  and many houses
shall come to an end,”

declares the Lord.
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