Amos 3–4

3People of Israel, listen to this message which the Lord has spoken about you, the entire nation that he brought out of Egypt: ²“Of all the nations on earth, you are the only one I have known and cared for. That is what makes your sins so terrible, and that is why I must punish you for them.”

The Prophet’s Task

³Do two people start travelling together without arranging to meet?

⁴Does a lion roar in the forest unless he has found a victim?

Does a young lion growl in his den unless he has caught something?

⁵Does a bird get caught in a trap if the trap has not been baited?

Does a trap spring unless something sets it off?

⁶Does the war trumpet sound in a city without making the people afraid?

Does disaster strike a city unless the Lord sends it?

⁷The Sovereign Lord never does anything without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets.

⁸When a lion roars, who can avoid being afraid?

When the Sovereign Lord speaks, who can avoid proclaiming his message?

The Doom of Samaria

⁹Announce to those who live in the palaces of Egypt and Ashdod: “Gather together in the hills surrounding Samaria and see the great disorder and the crimes being committed there.”

¹⁰The Lord says, “These people fill their mansions with things taken by crime and violence. They don’t even know how to be honest. ¹¹And so an enemy will surround their land, destroy their defences, and plunder their mansions.”

¹²The Lord says, “As a shepherd recovers only two legs or an ear of a sheep that a lion has eaten, so only a few will survive of Samaria’s people, who now recline on luxurious couches.^{d 13}Listen now, and warn the descendants of Jacob,” says the Sovereign Lord Almighty. ^14*“On the day when I punish the people of Israel for their sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel. The corners of every altar will be broken off and will fall to the ground. ¹⁵I will destroy winter houses and summer houses. The houses decorated with ivory will fall in ruins; every large house will be destroyed.”

4Listen to this, you women of Samaria, who grow fat like the well-fed cows of Bashan, who ill-treat the weak, oppress the poor, and demand that your husbands keep you supplied with liquor! ²As the Sovereign Lord is holy, he has promised, “The days will come when they will drag you away with hooks; every one of you will be like a fish on a hook. ³You will be dragged to the nearest break in the wall and thrown out.”^e

Israel’s Failure to Learn

⁴The Sovereign Lord says, “People of Israel, go to the holy place in Bethel and sin, if you must! Go to Gilgal and sin with all your might! Go ahead and bring animals to be sacrificed morning after morning, and bring your tithes every third day. ⁵Go ahead and offer your bread in thanksgiving to God, and boast about the extra offerings you bring! This is the kind of thing you love to do.

⁶“I was the one who brought famine to all your cities, yet you did not come back to me. ⁷I held back the rain when your crops needed it most. I sent rain on one city, but not on another. Rain fell on one field, but another field dried up. ⁸Weak with thirst, the people of several cities went to a city where they hoped to find water, but there was not enough to drink. Still you did not come back to me.

⁹“I sent a scorching wind to dry up your crops. The locusts ate up all your gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees. Still you did not come back to me.

¹⁰“I sent a plague on you like the one I sent on Egypt. I killed your young men in battle and took your horses away. I filled your nostrils with the stink of dead bodies in your camps. Still you did not come back to me.

^11*“I destroyed some of you as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like a burning stick saved from a fire. Still you did not come back to me,” says the Lord. ¹²“So then, people of Israel, I am going to punish you. And because I am going to do this, get ready to face my judgement!” ¹³God is the one who made the mountains and created the winds. He makes his thoughts known to people; he changes day into night. He walks on the heights of the earth. This is his name: the Lord God Almighty!