² “Of all the families on earth,
only you have I intimately known.
This is why I will punish you
for all your crimes.”
³ Do two people travel together
without having so agreed?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion growl in his lair
if it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird get caught in a trap on the ground
if it hasn’t been baited?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
when it has taken nothing?
⁶ When the shofar is blown in the city,
don’t the people tremble?
Can disaster befall a city
without Adonai’s having done it?
⁷ Adonai, God, does nothing without
revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared. Who will not fear?
Adonai, God, has spoken. Who will not prophesy?

⁹ “Proclaim it on the palaces in Ashdod
and on the palaces in the land of Egypt; say:
‘Assemble yourselves on the hills of Shomron!
See what great tumult is seething within it,
how much oppression is being done there.’
¹⁰ For they don’t know how to do right,” says Adonai.
“They store up violence and robbery in their palaces.”

¹¹ Therefore, here is what Adonai Elohim says:

“An enemy will surround the land.
He will strip you of your strength,
and plunder your palaces.”

¹² This is what Adonai says:

¹³ “As a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion
a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear;
so the people of Isra’el in Shomron will be rescued,
huddled under cushions in the corners of their beds.

“Hear, and testify against the house of Ya‘akov,”
says Adonai Elohim Elohei-Tzva’ot.
¹⁴ “For when I punish Isra’el’s crimes,
I will also punish the altars of Beit-El.
The horns of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.

¹⁵ I will tear down winter houses
as well as summer houses;
houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed;
the mansions will be no more,” says Adonai.