Amos

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Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3 
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 [a]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 [b]trap for it?

Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?

6 If a [c]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 [d]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 [e]oppressed within her.

10 For they do not know to do right,’

Says the Lord,

‘Who store up violence and [f]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 [g]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 [h]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 [i]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.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 3:4 Lit. give his voice
  2. Amos 3:5 Or bait or lure
  3. Amos 3:6 ram’s horn
  4. Amos 3:9 So with MT; LXX Assyria
  5. Amos 3:9 Or oppression
  6. Amos 3:10 Or devastation
  7. Amos 3:12 Or snatches
  8. Amos 3:12 Heb. uncertain, possibly on the cover
  9. Amos 3:15 Lit. strike