Amos 3

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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You alone have I known

¹Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, people of Israel, \q against the whole family \q that I brought up from the land of Egypt: ²You alone have I known \q out of all the families of the earth; \q that is why I will punish you \q for all your sins. ³Do two people walk together \q unless they have agreed to meet? ⁴Does a lion roar in the forest \q when it has no prey? \q Does a young lion growl from its den \q unless it has caught something? ⁵Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground \q if no snare has been set for it? \q Does a trap spring up from the ground \q when it has caught nothing? ⁶If a ram’s horn is blown in a city, \q do the people not tremble? \q If disaster comes to a city, \q has the LORD not done it? ⁷The Lord GOD does nothing at all \q unless he first reveals his plan \q to his servants the prophets. ⁸The lion has roared; who will not be afraid? \q The Lord GOD has spoken; \q who can keep from prophesying? ⁹Announce to the fortresses of Ashdod \q and to the fortresses in the land of Egypt, and say: \q “Assemble on the mountains around Samaria \q and see the great turmoil within her \q and the oppression in her midst.” ¹⁰They do not know how to do right, declares the LORD, \q these people who hoard violence and destruction in their fortresses.

An enemy will surround the land

¹¹Therefore the Lord GOD says this: \q An enemy will surround the land; \q he will tear down your strongholds, \q and your fortresses will be plundered. ¹²The LORD says this: \q As a shepherd snatches from a lion’s mouth just two legs or a scrap of an ear, \q so will the people of Israel who live in Samaria be rescued, \q with nothing but the corner of a bed or a scrap of silk from a couch. ¹³Listen, and be witnesses against Jacob’s house, \q declares the Lord GOD, the God of Armies. ¹⁴On the day I punish Israel for its crimes, \q I will punish the altars of Bethel; \q the horns of the altar will be broken off \q and fall to the ground. ¹⁵I will strike down the winter house together with the summer house; \q the houses of ivory will be destroyed, and the great houses will be swept away, declares the LORD.