Amos 3

¹Hear this word that the Lord

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

⁷Surely the Lord God Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

⁸A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God Who can but prophesy?

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

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