3:1 Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
3:2 You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your sins.
3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
3:4 Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey? Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing?
3:5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch?
3:6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
3:7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
3:8 The lion has roared who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken who can but prophesy?
3:9 Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people.
3:10 They do not know how to do right, declares the LORD, who hoard plunder and loot in their fortresses.
3:11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: An enemy will overrun the land he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.
3:12 This is what the LORD says: As a shepherd saves from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches. [The meaning of the Heb
3:13 Hear this and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty.
3:14 On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
3:15 I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished, declares the LORD.