[1] Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: [2] You alone have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. [3] Do two people walk together, if they have not agreed? [4] Does a lion roar in the forest, if it has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from its den, if it has not caught something? [5] Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground, if there was no snare for it? Does a trap spring up from the ground, if it has not caught something? [6] If the trumpet blasts in the city, are not the people frightened? If there is disaster against a city, is it not the LORD who has done it? [7] Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His purpose to His servants the prophets. [8] The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy? [9] Proclaim to the fortresses in Ashdod, and the fortresses in the land of Egypt, and say: "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great disorders within her, and the oppression in her midst." [10] They do not know how to do right, says the LORD, storing up violence and destruction in their fortresses. [11] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: An enemy will surround your land; he will tear down your defenses, and your fortresses will be plundered. [12] Thus says the LORD: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion a pair of legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel be rescued, those who live in Samaria, with the corner of a bed or a piece of a couch. [13] Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, says the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts: [14] Surely on the day I punish the transgressions of Israel, I will also punish the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. [15] I will destroy the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish; the great houses will come to an end, says the LORD.
