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Announce this to the leaders of Philistia[a]
    and to the great ones of Egypt:
“Take your seats now on the hills around Samaria,
    and witness the chaos and oppression in Israel.”

10 “My people have forgotten how to do right,”
    says the Lord.
“Their fortresses are filled with wealth
    taken by theft and violence.
11 Therefore,” says the Sovereign Lord,
    “an enemy is coming!
He will surround them and shatter their defenses.
    Then he will plunder all their fortresses.”

12 This is what the Lord says:

“A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion’s mouth
    will recover only two legs or a piece of an ear.
So it will be for the Israelites in Samaria lying on luxurious beds,
    and for the people of Damascus reclining on couches.[b]

13 “Now listen to this, and announce it throughout all Israel,[c]” says the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

14 “On the very day I punish Israel for its sins,
    I will destroy the pagan altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15 And I will destroy the beautiful homes of the wealthy—
    their winter mansions and their summer houses, too—
all their palaces filled with ivory,”
    says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 3:9 Hebrew Ashdod.
  2. 3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew in this sentence is uncertain.
  3. 3:13 Hebrew the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.

    Proclaim it to the palaces of Ashdod
        and to the palaces in the land of Egypt.
    Say, “Gather yourselves on Mount Samaria,
        and see the great turmoil in the city,
        and what violent deeds are inside it.”
10 They don’t know how to do right,
says the Lord
        those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore, the Lord my God proclaims:
        An enemy will surround the land;
    he will bring you down from your protected places,
        and your palaces will be robbed.

12 The Lord proclaims:

Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or the piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so will the people of Israel be rescued. Those who live in Samaria will escape with the corner of a bed, and those in Damascus with a piece of a couch.[a]

13 Hear this and speak against the house of Jacob,
        says the Lord God, the God of heavenly forces:
14 On the day I punish the crimes of Israel,
    I will also visit the altars of Bethel;
        the horns of the altar will be cut off
        and will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;
        the houses of ivory will perish;
        the great houses will be swept away,
says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 3:12 Heb uncertain