Amos 3

Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

²“You ^aonly have I known of all the families of the earth;

^bTherefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

³Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

⁴Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?

Will a young lion ¹cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?

⁵Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no ²trap for it?

Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?

⁶If a ³trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?

^cIf there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

⁷Surely the Lord God does nothing,

Unless ^dHe reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

⁸A lion has roared!

Who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken!

^eWho can but prophesy?

Punishment of Israel’s Sins

⁹“Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,⁴

And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:

‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;

See great tumults in her midst,

And the ⁵oppressed within her.

¹⁰For they ^fdo not know to do right,’

Says the Lord,

‘Who store up violence and ⁶robbery in their palaces.’ ”

¹¹Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“An adversary shall be all around the land;

He shall sap your strength from you,

And your palaces shall be plundered.”

¹²Thus says the Lord:

“As a shepherd ⁷takes from the mouth of a lion

Two legs or a piece of an ear,

So shall the children of Israel be taken out

Who dwell in Samaria—

In the corner of a bed and ⁸on the edge of a couch!

¹³Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”

Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,

¹⁴“That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,

I will also visit destruction on the altars of ^gBethel;

And the horns of the altar shall be cut off

And fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will ⁹destroy ^hthe winter house along with ⁱthe summer house;

The ^jhouses of ivory shall perish,

And the great houses shall have an end,”

Says the Lord.