3
Authority of the Prophet’s Message
1Hear 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⚓ only have I known of all the families of the earth;
⚓Therefore 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 cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
⚓If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?
7Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless ⚓He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
⚓Who can but prophesy?
Punishment of Israel’s Sins
9“Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,
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 oppressed within her.
10For they ⚓do not know to do right,’
Says the Lord,
‘Who store up violence and robbery 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 takes 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 on 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 ⚓Bethel;
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.
15I will destroy ⚓the winter house along with ⚓the summer house;
The ⚓houses of ivory shall perish,
And the great houses shall have an end,”
Says the Lord.