Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you(A)—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:(B)

“You only have I chosen(C)
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish(D) you
    for all your sins.(E)

Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar(F) in the thicket
    when it has no prey?(G)
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(H) is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
When a trumpet(I) sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster(J) comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?(K)

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

The lion(N) has roared(O)
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
    who can but prophesy?(P)

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

10 “They do not know how to do right,(S)” declares the Lord,
    “who store up in their fortresses(T)
    what they have plundered(U) 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.(V)

12 This is what the Lord says:

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s(W) 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](X)

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

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

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.

更重的刑罰

以色列人哪!要聽耶和華攻擊你們的這些話,就是攻擊他從埃及地領上來的以色列全家,說:

“地上萬族中,

我只揀選了你;

因此,我必追討你們的一切罪。”

二人如果沒有約定,

怎會同行呢?

先知的使命

獅子如果不是捕獲獵物,

怎會在林中吼叫?

少壯獅子如果沒有捕獲甚麼,

怎會在洞中咆哮呢?

如果沒有餌,

雀鳥怎會掉在地上的網羅中?

網羅如果沒有捕獲雀鳥,

怎會從地上翻起呢?

城中如果吹起號角,

居民怎會不驚慌呢?

災禍如果臨到某城,

不是耶和華所降的嗎?

如果主耶和華不先把計劃向他的僕人眾先知顯示,

他就不會作任何事。

獅子吼叫,誰不害怕;

主耶和華宣告,誰敢不代他傳話?

犯罪的結果

要向亞實突和埃及的堡壘宣告:“你們要在撒瑪利亞山上聚集;觀看城裡極大的騷亂和城中的暴虐。”

10 “這些人不知道怎樣行正直的事,只管在他們的堡壘中積聚暴行和欺壓。”這是耶和華的宣告。

11 因此,主耶和華這樣說:

“敵人必圍攻這地,

使你們的勢力傾覆,

搶掠你們的堡壘。”

12 耶和華這樣說:

“牧人從獅子口中,

只能奪回一雙羊腿和一角耳朵;

住在撒瑪利亞的以色列人獲救也是這樣,

他們只剩下一角床榻,半邊褥子(“他們只剩下一角床榻,半邊褥子”,這句原文意義不詳,或譯:“他們躺臥在華麗的床上,睡在鋪上繡花毯子的榻上”)。

13 你們要聽,要向雅各家作證。

(這是主耶和華萬軍之 神的宣告。)

14 我追討以色列的悖逆時,

必要懲罰伯特利的祭壇;

壇角必砍下,

跌落在地。

15 我必毀壞冬天和夏天的別墅,

用象牙裝飾的房子必破爛,

宏偉的樓宇必歸於無有。”

這是耶和華的宣告。