Amos 3–4

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

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:

^2k“You only have I known

of all the families of the earth;

^ltherefore 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?

^6mIs 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.

⁸The lion has roared;

who will not fear?

^pThe Lord God has spoken;

who can but prophesy?”

⁹Proclaim 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.”

¹¹Therefore 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.”

¹²Thus 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.

^15dI 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!’

^2kThe 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.

^3mAnd you shall go out through the breaches,

each one straight ahead;

and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”

declares the Lord.

⁴ⁿ“Come to Bethel, and transgress;

to ^oGilgal, and multiply transgression;

ⁿbring your ^psacrifices every morning,

your tithes every three days;

⁵offer 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;

⁸so 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.

^9y“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.

¹¹“I overthrew some of you,

^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!”

¹³For behold, ^fhe who forms the mountains and creates the wind,

and ^gdeclares to man what is his thought,

^hwho makes the morning darkness,

and ⁱtreads on the heights of the earth—

^jthe Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!