Chapter 3
1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you , children of Israel , against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt , saying :
2 " I have only chosen you of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins ."
3 Do two walk together , unless they have agreed ?
4 Will a lion roar in the thicket, when he has no prey ? Does a young lion cry out of his den , if he has caught nothing ?
5 Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth , where no snare is set for him ? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when there is nothing to catch ?
6 Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city , without the people being afraid ? Does evil happen to a city , and the LORD hasn’t done it ?
7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing , unless he reveals his secret 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 in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt , and say, "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria , and see what unrest is in her , and what oppression is amongst them ."
10 " Indeed they don’t know to do right ," says the LORD , " Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces."
11 Therefore the Lord GOD says : " An adversary will overrun the land; and he will pull down your strongholds, and your fortresses will be plundered."
12 The LORD says : " As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs , or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch , and on the silken cushions of a bed ."
13 " Listen , and testify against the house of Jacob ," says the Lord GOD , the God of Armies .
14 " For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him , I will also visit the altars of Bethel ; and the horns of the altar will be cut off , and fall to the ground.
15 I will strike the winter house with the summer house ; and the houses of ivory will perish , and the great houses will have an end ," says the LORD .