Amos 3

¹ Listen, sons of Israel, to this oracle Yahweh speaks against you, against the whole family I brought out of the land of Egypt:

² You alone, of all the families of earth, have I acknowledged, therefore it is for all your sins that I mean to punish you.

³ Do two men take the road together if they have not planned to do so?

⁴ Does the lion roar in the jungle if no prey has been found? Does the young lion growl in his lair if he has captured nothing?

⁵ Does the bird fall to the ground if no trap has been set? Does the snare spring up from the ground if nothing has been caught?

⁶ Does the trumpet sound in the city without the populace becoming alarmed? Does misfortune come to a city if Yahweh has not sent it?

⁷ No more does the Lord Yahweh do anything without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets.

⁸ The lion roars: who can help feeling afraid? The Lord Yahweh speaks: who can refuse to prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim it in the palaces of Assyria and in the palaces in the land of Egypt; saying, ‘Assemble on Samaria’s mountain and see what great disorder there is in that city, what oppression is found inside her’.

¹⁰ They know nothing of fair dealing-it is Yahweh who speaks-they cram their palaces full by harshness and extortion.

¹¹ Therefore, the Lord Yahweh says this: An enemy[*a] is going to invade the country, your power will be brought low, your palaces looted.

¹² Yahweh says this: Like a shepherd rescuing a couple of legs or a bit of an ear from the lion’s mouth, so will these sons of Israel be rescued, who now loll in Samaria on the corner-pillows of their divans.

¹³ Listen, and then testify it against the House of Jacob-it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks, the God of Sabaoth:

¹⁴ On the day I punish Israel for his crimes I will punish the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar are going to be broken off and dropped on the ground.

¹⁵ I mean to pull down both winter houses and summer houses, the houses of ivory will be destroyed, the houses of ebony will vanish. It is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.