² “You only have I chosen
    of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
    for all your sins.”

³ Do two walk together
    unless they have agreed to do so?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the thicket
    when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
    when it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
    when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
    if it has not caught anything?
⁶ When a trumpet sounds in a city,
    do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
    has not the Lord caused it?

⁷ Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
    without revealing his plan
    to his servants the prophets.

⁸ The lion has roared—
    who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
    who can but prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
    and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
    see the great unrest within her
    and the oppression among her people.”

¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
    “who store up in their fortresses
    what they have plundered and looted.”

“An enemy will overrun your land,
    pull down your strongholds
    and plunder your fortresses.”

“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s 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]”

¹⁴ “On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
    I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house
    along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
    and the mansions will be demolished,”
declares the Lord.