3
The LORD Will Punish Israel for Its Immoral Behavior
1 Listen to this message which I, the Lord, have spoken against you Israelites, against your whole family that I brought out of Egypt.
2 Out of all the families on earth, I have known no one else but you.
That is why I am going to punish you for all your sins.
3 Do two people ever walk together without meeting first?
4 Does a lion roar in the forest if it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl in its den unless it has caught something?
5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there’s no bait in it?
Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has caught something?
6 If a ram’s horn sounds an alarm in a city, won’t the people be alarmed?
If there is a disaster in a city, hasn’t the Lord done it?
7 Certainly, the Almighty Lord doesn’t do anything
unless he ⌞first⌟ reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared. Who isn’t afraid?
The Almighty Lord has spoken. Who can keep from prophesying?
9 Announce in the palaces of Ashdod and in the palaces of Egypt,
“Gather together on the mountains of Samaria.
See the widespread confusion and oppression in Samaria.”
10 Those who collect profits in their palaces
through violent and destructive acts
don’t know how to do what is right, declares the Lord.
11 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
An enemy will surround your land,
strip you of your defenses,
and loot your palaces.
12 This is what the Lord says:
As a shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear out of a lion’s mouth,
so the Israelites living in Samaria will be rescued,
⌞having only⌟ a corner of a bed or a piece of a couch.*
13 Listen, and testify against the descendants of Jacob,
declares the Almighty Lord, the God of Armies.
14 On the day I punish Israel for its disobedience,
I will also destroy the altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down winter houses as well as summer houses.
Houses ⌞decorated⌟ with ivory will be destroyed.
Mansions will be demolished, declares the Lord.
* 3:12 Or “a couch of Damascus.”