Authority of the Prophet’s Message

¹ Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:
² “ You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
³ Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
⁴ Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
⁵ Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
⁶ If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the LORD have done it?
⁷ Surely the Lord GOD does nothing,
Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
⁸ A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken!
Who can but prophesy?

Punishment of Israel’s Sins

⁹ “ Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,^[a]
And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:

‘ Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;
See great tumults in her midst,
And the oppressed within her.
¹⁰ For they do not know to do right,’
Says the LORD,

‘ Who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.’”

¹¹ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:


“ An adversary shall be all around the land;
He shall sap your strength from you,
And your palaces shall be plundered.”

¹² Thus says the LORD:


“ As a shepherd takes from the mouth of a lion
Two legs or a piece of an ear,
So shall the children of Israel be taken out
Who dwell in Samaria—
In the corner of a bed and on the edge^[b] of a couch!
¹³ Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
¹⁴ “ That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,
I will also visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house;
The houses of ivory shall perish,
And the great houses shall have an end,”
Says the LORD.