Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar(A) in the thicket
    when it has no prey?(B)
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait(C) is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
When a trumpet(D) sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster(E) comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?(F)

Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
    without revealing his plan(G)
    to his servants the prophets.(H)

The lion(I) has roared(J)
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
    who can but prophesy?(K)

Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod(L)
    and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;(M)
    see the great unrest within her
    and the oppression among her people.”

10 “They do not know how to do right,(N)” declares the Lord,
    “who store up in their fortresses(O)
    what they have plundered(P) and looted.”

11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“An enemy will overrun your land,
    pull down your strongholds
    and plunder your fortresses.(Q)

12 This is what the Lord says:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s(R) 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[a] from a couch.[b](S)

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

14 “On the day I punish(U) Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;(V)
the horns(W) of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house(X)
    along with the summer house;(Y)
the houses adorned with ivory(Z) will be destroyed
    and the mansions(AA) will be demolished,(AB)
declares the Lord.(AC)

Israel Has Not Returned to God

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan(AD) on Mount Samaria,(AE)
    you women who oppress the poor(AF) and crush the needy(AG)
    and say to your husbands,(AH) “Bring us some drinks!(AI)
The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness:
    “The time(AJ) will surely come
when you will be taken away(AK) with hooks,(AL)
    the last of you with fishhooks.[c]
You will each go straight out
    through breaches in the wall,(AM)
    and you will be cast out toward Harmon,[d]
declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
  2. Amos 3:12 Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches.
  3. Amos 4:2 Or away in baskets, / the last of you in fish baskets
  4. Amos 4:3 Masoretic Text; with a different word division of the Hebrew (see Septuagint) out, you mountain of oppression

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