< Amos 3 >
1 Hear this word that Jehovah has spoken against you, O sons of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,
2 You only I have known of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.
3 Shall two walk together unless they have agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing?
5 Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no net is set for him? Shall a snare spring up from the ground, and have taken nothing at all?
6 Shall the trumpet be blown in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah has not done it?
7 Surely the lord Jehovah will do nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared, who will not fear? The lord Jehovah has spoken, who can but prophesy?
9 Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are in it, and what oppressions are in the midst of it.
10 For they do not know to do right, says Jehovah, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore thus says the lord Jehovah: An adversary shall be, even round about the land, and he shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be plundered.
12 Thus says Jehovah: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
13 Hear ye, and testify against the house of Jacob, says the lord Jehovah, the God of hosts.
14 For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.
15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says Jehovah.