Amos 3:1–4:12
3 jHear 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 k“You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
ltherefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.
unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does 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?
5 Does 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 mIs a trumpet blown in a city,
and the people are not afraid?
nDoes disaster come to a city,
unless the Lord has done it?
7 “For the Lord God does nothing
owithout revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.
who will not fear?
pThe Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
9 Proclaim to the strongholds in qAshdod
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
and say, “Assemble yourselves on rthe mountains of Samaria,
and see the great tumults within her,
and sthe oppressed in her midst.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
t“those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”
11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
u“An adversary shall surround the land
and bring down1 your defenses from you,
and vyour strongholds shall be plundered.”
12 Thus says the Lord: w“As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, xso shall the people of Israel ywho dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part2 of a bed.
13 “Hear, zand testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, athe God of hosts,
14 “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
bI will punish the altars of Bethel,
and cthe horns of the altar shall be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 dI will strike ethe winter house along with fthe summer house,
and gthe houses of ivory shall perish,
and the great houses3 shall come to an end,”
declares the Lord.
4 “Hear this word, hyou cows of Bashan,
who are ion the mountain of Samaria,
jwho oppress the poor, jwho crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
2 kThe Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
lwhen they shall take you away with hooks,
leven the last of you with fishhooks.
3 mAnd you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.
4 n“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to oGilgal, and multiply transgression;
nbring your psacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of qthat which is leavened,
and proclaim rfreewill offerings, publish them;
sfor so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.
Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord
6 “I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and tlack of bread in all your places,
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
7 “I also vwithheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
wI would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
8 so two or three cities xwould wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
9 y“I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees zthe locust devoured;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a pestilence aafter the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and bcarried away your horses,1
and cI made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
das when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were eas a brand2 plucked out of the burning;
uyet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”