Amos 3:1–15

Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3 Hear 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.”

3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?

4 Will 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?

5 Will 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?

6 If 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?

7 Surely the Lord God does nothing,

Unless dHe reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

8 A 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.

10 For they fdo not know to do right,’

Says the Lord,

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

11 Therefore 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.”

12 Thus 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!

13 Hear 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.

15 I 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.