Witnesses Summoned Against Israel
3 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you(A)—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:(B)
2 “You only have I chosen(C)
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish(D) you
for all your sins.(E)”
3 Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?
4 Does a lion roar(F) in the thicket
when it has no prey?(G)
Does it growl in its den
when it has caught nothing?
5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
when no bait(H) is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
if it has not caught anything?
6 When a trumpet(I) sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster(J) comes to a city,
has not the Lord caused it?(K)
7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan(L)
to his servants the prophets.(M)
8 The lion(N) has roared(O)—
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
who can but prophesy?(P)
9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod(Q)
and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;(R)
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people.”
10 “They do not know how to do right,(S)” declares the Lord,
“who store up in their fortresses(T)
what they have plundered(U) and looted.”
11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.(V)”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s(W) mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
with only the head of a bed
and a piece of fabric[a] from a couch.[b](X)”
13 “Hear this and testify(Y) against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
14 “On the day I punish(Z) Israel for her sins,
I will destroy the altars of Bethel;(AA)
the horns(AB) of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house(AC)
along with the summer house;(AD)
the houses adorned with ivory(AE) will be destroyed
and the mansions(AF) will be demolished,(AG)”
declares the Lord.(AH)
Footnotes
- Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Amos 3:12 Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches.
Cross references
- Amos 3:1 : Zep 2:5
- Amos 3:1 : S Am 2:10
- Amos 3:2 : S Ex 19:6; Dt 7:6; Lk 12:47
- Amos 3:2 : ver 14
- Amos 3:2 : S Jer 14:10; Mic 2:3; 1Pe 4:17
- Amos 3:4 : S Isa 42:13
- Amos 3:4 : Ps 104:21; S Hos 5:14
- Amos 3:5 : S Ps 119:110
- Amos 3:6 : S Nu 10:2; S Job 39:24; S Jer 4:21
- Amos 3:6 : S Isa 31:2
- Amos 3:6 : Isa 14:24-27
- Amos 3:7 : Ge 18:17; S 1Sa 3:7; S Da 9:22; Jn 15:15; Rev 10:7
- Amos 3:7 : S Jer 23:22
- Amos 3:8 : S Isa 31:4
- Amos 3:8 : S Isa 42:13
- Amos 3:8 : S Jer 20:9; Jnh 1:1-3; 3:1-3; Ac 4:20
- Amos 3:9 : S Jos 13:3; S 2Ch 26:6
- Amos 3:9 : Am 4:1; 6:1
- Amos 3:10 : Am 5:7; 6:12
- Amos 3:10 : S Ps 36:3; Mic 6:10; Zep 1:9
- Amos 3:10 : Hab 2:8
- Amos 3:11 : Am 2:5; 6:14
- Amos 3:12 : S 1Sa 17:34
- Amos 3:12 : S Est 1:6; Am 6:4
- Amos 3:13 : Eze 2:7
- Amos 3:14 : S ver 2; S Lev 26:18
- Amos 3:14 : S Ge 12:8; Am 5:5-6
- Amos 3:14 : S Ex 27:2
- Amos 3:15 : Jer 36:22
- Amos 3:15 : Jdg 3:20
- Amos 3:15 : S 1Ki 22:39
- Amos 3:15 : Am 5:11; 6:11
- Amos 3:15 : S Isa 34:5
- Amos 3:15 : Hos 10:5-8, 14-15