Amos 3

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

3Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you^j—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:^k

²“You only have I chosen^l

of all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish^m you

for all your sins.ⁿ”

³Do two walk together

unless they have agreed to do so?

⁴Does a lion roar^o in the thicket

when it has no prey?^p

Does it growl in its den

when it has caught nothing?

⁵Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground

when no bait^q is there?

Does a trap spring up from the ground

if it has not caught anything?

⁶When a trumpet^r sounds in a city,

do not the people tremble?

When disaster^s comes to a city,

has not the Lord caused it?^t

⁷Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing

without revealing his plan^u

to his servants the prophets.^v

⁸The lion^w has roared^x—

who will not fear?

The Sovereign Lord has spoken—

who can but prophesy?^y

⁹Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod^z

and to the fortresses of Egypt:

“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;^a

see the great unrest within her

and the oppression among her people.”

¹⁰“They do not know how to do right,^b” declares the Lord,

“who store up in their fortresses^c

what they have plundered^d and looted.”

¹¹Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“An enemy will overrun your land,

pull down your strongholds

and plunder your fortresses.^e”

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s^f mouth

only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,

so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,

with only the head of a bed

and a piece of fabric^a from a couch.^bg”

¹³“Hear this and testify^h against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

¹⁴“On the day I punishⁱ Israel for her sins,

I will destroy the altars of Bethel;^j

the horns^k of the altar will be cut off

and fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will tear down the winter house^l

along with the summer house;^m

the houses adorned with ivoryⁿ will be destroyed

and the mansions^o will be demolished,^p”

declares the Lord.^q