Amos 3:11-13

Contemporary English Version

¹¹And so the Lord God has sworn
that they will be surrounded.
Enemies will break through
their defenses
and steal their treasures.

¹²The Lord has promised
that only a few from Samaria
    will escape with their lives
and with some broken pieces
    of their beds and couches.^[a]
It will be like when a shepherd
    rescues two leg bones
and part of a sheep's ear
    from the jaws of a lion.^[b]

The Altars at Bethel

¹³The Lord God All-Powerful
told me to speak this message
against Jacob's descendants:

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Footnotes

3.12 some … couches: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
3.12 lion: When a wild animal attacked and killed a sheep, the shepherd had to rescue part of the sheep and take it to the owner as proof that it had been killed by an animal. Otherwise, the shepherd had to pay the owner the cost of the sheep.