Amos 3:1-4:13

Witnesses Summoned Against Israel 1Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the LORD has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

2“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.”

3Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

4Does a lion roar in the thicket when it has no prey? Does it growl in its den when it has caught nothing?

5Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when no bait is there? Does a trap spring up from the ground if it has not caught anything?

6When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?

7Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

8The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken— who can but prophesy?

9Proclaim 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.”

10“They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD, “who store up in their fortresses what they have plundered and looted.”

11Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “An enemy will overrun your land, pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses.”

12This is what the LORD says: “As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued, with only the head of a bed and a piece of fabric The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. from a couch. Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches. ”

13“Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty.

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. 15I 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 .

Israel Has Not Returned to God 1Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

2The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks. Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets

3You will each go straight out through breaches in the wall, and you will be cast out toward Harmon, Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression ” declares the LORD .

4“Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Or days

5Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings— boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign LORD .

6“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .

7“I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.

8People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .

9“Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .

10“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .

11“I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD .

12“Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God.” 13He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth— the LORD God Almighty is his name.