1 Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:  *

2 I have known only you  *

out of all the clans of the earth;

therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.  *

3 Can two walk together  *

without agreeing to meet?

4 Does a lion roar  * in the forest

when it has no prey?

Does a young lion growl from its lair

unless it has captured something?

5 Does a bird land in a trap on the ground

if there is no bait for it?

Does a trap spring from the ground

when it has caught nothing?

6 If a ram’s horn  * is blown in a city,

aren’t people afraid?  *

If a disaster  * occurs in a city,

hasn’t the Lord done it?  *

7 Indeed, the Lord God does nothing

without revealing his counsel

to his servants the prophets.  *

8 A lion has roared;  *

who will not fear?

The Lord God has spoken;  *

who will not prophesy?  *

9 Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod  *

and on the citadels in the land of Egypt:

Assemble on the mountains of Samaria,  *

and see the great turmoil in the city

and the acts of oppression within it.  *

10 The people are incapable of doing right  *  —

this is the  Lord’s declaration —

those who store up violence and destruction  *

in their citadels.

11 Therefore, the Lord God says:

An enemy  * will surround the land;

he will destroy  * your strongholds

and plunder your citadels.  *

12 The Lord says:

As the shepherd snatches two legs

or a piece of an ear

from the lion’s mouth,  *

so the Israelites who live in Samaria

will be rescued

with only the corner of a bed  *

or the  * cushion  * of a couch.  *,*

13 Listen and testify  * against the house of Jacob —

this is the declaration of the Lord God,

the God of Armies.

14 I will punish the altars of Bethel  *

on the day I punish Israel for its crimes;

the horns of the altar  * will be cut off

and fall to the ground.  *

15 I will demolish the winter house  *

and the summer house;  *

the houses inlaid with ivory  * will be destroyed,

and the great houses  * will come to an end.

This is the  Lord’s declaration.