[1] Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of
Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of
Egypt: [2] "You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. [3] "Do two walk
together, unless they have made an appointment? [4] Does a lion roar in the
forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he
has taken nothing? [5] Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there
is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has
taken nothing? [6] Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not
afraid? Does evil befall a city, unless the LORD has done it? [7] Surely
the Lord GOD does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the
prophets. [8] The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has
spoken; who can but prophesy?" [9] Proclaim to the strongholds in Assyria,
and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, "Assemble yourselves
upon the mountains of Sama'ria, and see the great tumults within her, and
the oppressions in her midst." [10] "They do not know how to do right,"
says the LORD, "those who store up violence and robbery in their
strongholds." [11] Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "An adversary shall
surround the land, and bring down your defenses from you, and your
strongholds shall be plundered." [12] Thus says the LORD: "As the shepherd
rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall
the people of Israel who dwell in Sama'ria be rescued, with the corner of a
couch and part of a bed." [13] "Hear, and testify against the house of
Jacob," says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, [14] "that on the day I punish
Israel for his transgressions, I will punish the altars of Bethel, and the
horns of the altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground. [15] I will
smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall
perish, and the great houses shall come to an end," says the LORD.
