1. Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you – against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
2. ‘You only have I chosenof all the families of the earth;therefore I will punish youfor all your sins.’
3. Do two walk togetherunless they have agreed to do so?
4. Does a lion roar in the thicketwhen it has no prey?Does it growl in its denwhen it has caught nothing?
5. Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the groundwhen no bait is there?Does a trap spring up from the groundif it has not caught anything?
6. When a trumpet sounds in a city,do not the people tremble?When disaster comes to a city,has not the Lord caused it?
7. Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothingwithout revealing his planto his servants the prophets.
8. The lion has roared –who will not fear?The Sovereign Lord has spoken –who can but prophesy?
9. Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdodand to the fortresses of Egypt:‘Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;see the great unrest within herand the oppression among her people.’
10. ‘They do not know how to do right,’ declares the Lord,‘who store up in their fortresseswhat they have plundered and looted.’
11. Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:‘An enemy will overrun your land,pull down your strongholdsand plunder your fortresses.’
12. This is what the Lord says:‘As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouthonly two leg bones or a piece of an ear,so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,with only the head of a bedand a piece of fabric from a couch.’
13. ‘Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,’ declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
14. ‘On the day I punish Israel for her sins,I will destroy the altars of Bethel;the horns of the altar will be cut offand fall to the ground.
15. I will tear down the winter housealong with the summer house;the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyedand the mansions will be demolished,’declares the Lord.