1 Hear this word Jehovah spoke against you, O children of Israel! It is against the whole family that I brought out of the land of Egypt:

2 »Of all the families of the earth I have chosen known only you. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.

3 »Will two walk together, except they cooperate collaboratehave an agreement?

4 »Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out from his den if he has captured nothing?

5 »Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where there is no trap for him? Will a trap spring up from the ground when nothing at all sprung it?

6 »Will the trumpet be blown in a city and the people not be afraid? Will disaster happen to a city and Jehovah not cause it?

7 »The Lord Jehovah will do nothing without revealing his secrets to his servants the prophets.

8 »The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord Jehovah has spoken! Who will not prophesy?«

9 »Publish it in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt. Proclaim and assemble on the mountains of Samaria, and observe the great trouble and oppression there.

10 »Those who store up violence and robbery in their dwellings do not know how to do what is right,« declared Jehovah.

11 The Lord Jehovah spoke these words: »An adversary will surround the land. He will defeat and tear down your defenses. He will plunder your dwellings.«

12 Jehovah said: »As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so the children of Israel will be rescued. They sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.

13 »Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,« said the Lord Jehovah, the God of Hosts.

14 »The day that I punish Israel because of her sins I will also punish those at the altars of Bethel! The horns of the altar will be cut off, and fall to the ground.

15 »I will strike destroy the winter house and the summer house. The houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will come to an end,« said Jehovah.