Amos 3

Warning to Israel

3Listen to this word that the Lord has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family he brought out of Egypt.

²“I have chosen only you

out of all the families of the earth,

so I will punish you

for all your sins.”

³Two people will not walk together

unless they have agreed to do so.

⁴A lion in the forest does not roar

unless it has caught an animal;

it does not growl in its den

when it has caught nothing.

⁵A bird will not fall into a trap

where there is no bait;

the trap will not spring shut

if there is nothing to catch.

⁶When a trumpet blows a warning in a city,

the people tremble.

When trouble comes to a city,

the Lord has caused it.

⁷Before the Lord God does anything,

he tells his plans to his servants the prophets.

⁸The lion has roared!

Who wouldn’t be afraid?

The Lord God has spoken.

Who will not prophesy?

⁹Announce this to the strong buildings of Ashdod

and to the strong buildings of Egypt:

“Come to the mountains of Samaria,

where you will see great confusion

and people hurting others.”

¹⁰“The people don’t know how to do what is right,” says the Lord.

“Their strong buildings are filled with treasures they took by force from others.”

¹¹So this is what the Lord God says:

“An enemy will take over the land

and pull down your strongholds;

he will take the treasures out of your strong buildings.”

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“A shepherd might save from a lion’s mouth

only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear of his sheep.

In the same way only a few Israelites in Samaria will be saved—

people who now sit on their beds

and on their couches.”

¹³“Listen and be witnesses against the family of Jacob,” says the Lord God, the God All-Powerful.

¹⁴“When I punish Israel for their sins,

I will also destroy the altars at Bethel.

The corners of the altar will be cut off,

and they will fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will tear down the winter house,

together with the summer house.

The houses decorated with ivory will be destroyed,

and the great houses will come to an end,” says the Lord.