Amos 3 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised

God’s Reasons for Punishing Israel

¹ Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:

² I have known only you out of all the clans of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities.

³ Can two walk together without agreeing to meet?

⁴ Does a lion roar  in the forest when it has no prey? Does a young lion growl from its lair unless it has captured something?

⁵ Does a bird land in a trap on the ground if there is no bait for it? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has caught nothing?

⁶ If a ram’s horn  is blown in a city, aren’t people afraid? If a disaster  occurs in a city, hasn’t the Lord done it?

⁷ Indeed, the Lord God does nothing without revealing his counsel to his servants the prophets.

⁸ A lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who will not prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim on the citadels in Ashdod and on the citadels in the land of Egypt: Assemble on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great turmoil in the city and the acts of oppression within it.

¹⁰ The people are incapable of doing right   – this is the  Lord’s declaration – those who store up violence and destruction in their citadels.

¹¹ Therefore, the Lord God says: An enemy  will surround the land; he will destroy  your strongholds and plunder your citadels.

¹² The Lord says: As the shepherd snatches two legs or a piece of an ear from the lion’s mouth, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be rescued with only the corner of a bed or the  cushion  of a couch.  ,

¹³ Listen and testify  against the house of Jacob – this is the declaration of the Lord God, the God of Armies.

¹⁴ I will punish the altars of Bethel on the day I punish Israel for its crimes; the horns of the altar  will be cut off and fall to the ground.

¹⁵ I will demolish the winter house and the summer house; the houses inlaid with ivory  will be destroyed, and the great houses  will come to an end. This is the  Lord’s declaration.