• Authority of the Prophet’s Message

  • 1 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 only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore 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 cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
  • 5 Will 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?
  • 6 If 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?
  • 7 Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
  • 8 A 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.
  • 10 For they do not know to do right,’ Says the Lord, ‘Who store up violence and robbery 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 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!
  • 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 Bethel; And the horns of the altar shall be cut off And fall to the ground.
  • 15 I 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.