3
1 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 “I have chosen only you
from all the families of the earth.
Therefore I will punish you
for all your sins.”
3 Will two walk together
unless they have agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest
when he has no victim?
Will a young lion growl from his den
if he has caught nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a trap on the ground
when no bait is set for him?
Will a trap spring up from the ground
when it has not caught anything?
6 If a trumpet sounds in a city,
will the people not tremble?
If disaster overtakes a city,
has Yahweh not sent it?
7 Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing
unless he reveals his plan to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord Yahweh has spoken;
who will not prophesy?
9 Proclaim this in the fortresses at Ashdod,
and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt;
say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria
and see what great confusion is in her,
and what oppression is in her.
10 For they do not know how to do right
—this is Yahweh's declaration—
They store up violence
and destruction in their fortresses.”
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord Yahweh says:
“An enemy will surround the land,
and pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.”
12 This is what Yahweh says:
“As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion
two legs only, or a piece of an ear;
so will the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued;
they will be left with only the corner of a couch
or a piece of a bed.”
13 Hear and testify
against the house of Jacob
—this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts:
14 “For in the day that I punish the sins of Israel,
I will also punish the altars of Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will destroy the winter house
with the summer house.
The houses of ivory will perish,
and the large houses will vanish,
—this is Yahweh's declaration.”