He reproveth the house of Israel of ingratitude. 11 For the which God will punish them.

Hear this word that the Lord pronounceth against you, O children of Israel, even against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

You [a]only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will visit you for all your iniquities.

Can two walk together except they be [b]agreed?

Will a [c]lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? or will a lion’s whelp cry out of his den, if he hath taken nothing?

[d]Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no fowler is? or will he take up the [e]snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?

Or [f]shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people be not afraid? or shall there [g]be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he [h]revealeth his secret unto his servants the Prophets.

The lion hath roared: who will not be afraid? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but [i]prophesy?

Proclaim in the palaces at [j]Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria: so behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof.

10 For they know not to do right, saith the Lord: they store up violence, and robbery [k]in their palaces.

11 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, An adversary shall come even round about the country, and shall bring down thy strength from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled.

12 Thus saith the Lord, As the shepherd taketh [l]out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear: so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed: and in [m]Damascus, as in a couch.

13 Hear, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of hosts.

14 Surely in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar shall be broken off, and fall to the ground.

15 And I will smite the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall be consumed, saith the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 3:2 I have only chosen you to be mine among all other people, and yet you have forsaken me.
  2. Amos 3:3 Hereby the Prophet signifieth that he speaketh not of himself, but as God guideth and moveth him, which is called the agreement between God and his Prophets.
  3. Amos 3:4 Will God threaten by his Prophet, except there be some great occasion?
  4. Amos 3:5 Can anything come without God’s providence?
  5. Amos 3:5 Shall his threatenings be in vain?
  6. Amos 3:6 Shall the Prophets threaten God’s judgments and the people not be afraid?
  7. Amos 3:6 Doth any adversity come without God’s appointment? Isa. 45:7.
  8. Amos 3:7 God dealeth not with the Israelites, as he doeth with other people: for he ever warneth them before of his plagues by his Prophets.
  9. Amos 3:8 Because the people ever murmured against the Prophets, he showeth that God’s Spirit moved them so to speak as they did.
  10. Amos 3:9 He calleth the strangers, as the Philistines and Egyptians, to be witness of God’s judgments against the Israelites for their cruelty and oppression.
  11. Amos 3:10 The fruit of their cruelty and theft appeareth by their great riches, which they have in their houses.
  12. Amos 3:12 When the lion hath satiate his hunger, the shepherd findeth a leg or a rip of an ear, to show that the sheep have been worried.
  13. Amos 3:12 Where they thought to have had a sure hold, and to have been in safety.

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