Amos 3
New American Standard Bible
All the Tribes Are Guilty
3 Hear this word which the Lord has spoken against you, sons of Israel, against the entire [a](A)family which [b]He brought up from the land of Egypt:
2 “(B)You only have I [c]known among all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will [d](C)punish you for all your wrongdoing.”
3 Do two people walk together unless they have agreed to meet?
4 Does a (D)lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Does a young lion [e]growl from his den unless he has captured something?
5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground when there is no [f]device in it?
Does a trap spring up from the earth when it captures nothing at all?
6 If a (E)trumpet is blown in a city, will the people not tremble?
If a (F)disaster occurs in a city, has the Lord not brought it about?
7 [g]Certainly the Lord [h]God does nothing
Unless He (G)reveals His secret plan
To His servants the prophets.
8 A (H)lion has roared! Who will not fear?
The (I)Lord God has spoken! (J)Who can do anything but prophesy?
9 Proclaim on the citadels in (K)Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt and say, “Assemble yourselves on the (L)mountains of Samaria and see the great panic within her and the (M)oppressions in her midst. 10 But they (N)do not know how to do what is right,” declares the Lord, “these who (O)store up [i]violence and devastation in their citadels.”
11 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:
“An (P)enemy, one surrounding the land,
Will take down your fortifications from you,
And your (Q)citadels will be looted.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as the shepherd [j](R)snatches from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear,
So will the sons of Israel living in Samaria be [k]snatched away—
With the (S)corner of a bed and the [l](T)cover of a couch!
13 Hear and (U)testify against the house of Jacob,”
Declares the Lord God, the God of armies.
14 “For on the day that I punish Israel’s offenses,
I will also punish the altars of (V)Bethel;
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
And will fall to the ground.
15 I will also strike the (W)winter house together with the (X)summer house;
The houses of [m](Y)ivory will also perish,
And the (Z)great houses will come to an end,”
Declares the Lord.
Footnotes
- Amos 3:1 I.e., nation
- Amos 3:1 Lit I
- Amos 3:2 Or chosen
- Amos 3:2 Lit visit
- Amos 3:4 Lit give his voice
- Amos 3:5 Lit snare
- Amos 3:7 Or For
- Amos 3:7 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Amos 3:10 I.e., the plunder from violence
- Amos 3:12 Or rescues
- Amos 3:12 Or rescued
- Amos 3:12 Or headrest; lit damask
- Amos 3:15 I.e., ivory inlay
Amos 3
International Standard Version
A Higher Standard of Accountability
3 “Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken about you, people of Israel. It concerns the entire family that I brought from the land of Egypt:
2 ‘You alone have I known from among all of the families of mankind;
therefore I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.’”
Seven Questions to Ponder
3 “Will a couple walk in unity
without having met?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest
without having found its prey?
Will a young lion cry from its den
without having caught anything?
5 Does a bird fall into a snare on the ground
without any bait in the trap?
Will a trap snap shut
when there is nothing to catch?
6 And when an alarm[a] sounds in the city,
the people will tremble, won’t they?
If there is trouble in a city,
the Lord has brought it about, has he not?”
The Lord’s Purposes
7 “Truly the Lord God will do nothing he has mentioned
without revealing his purposes to his servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
Who will not prophesy?
9 Announce this[b] in the fortified citadels of Ashdod,
and in the fortified citadels of the land of Egypt.
Tell them, ‘Gather together on the mountains of Samaria;
look at the great misery among the citadels,[c]
along with the oppression within Egypt.’[d]
10 Because they do not know how to act right,”
declares the Lord,
“they are filling their strongholds with treasures
that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels.”
11 Therefore this is what the Lord God says:
“An enemy will surround the land.
He[e] will pull down your defenses,
and plunder your fortified citadels.”
12 This is what the Lord says:
“Just as a shepherd might save from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear,
the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner—
those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds,[f]
and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches.”
13 “Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord God, the God of the Heavenly Armies,
14 “because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel.
I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and will fall to the ground.
15 I will wreck both the winter house and the summer house,
and the ivory houses will fall.[g]
These palaces will surely fall,”
declares the Lord.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
