Amos
Chapter 3
1 Listen to what God has said against you, children of Israel, against the entire family I led out of Egypt:
2 I have known only you among all the families on earth; so I will punish you for all your wrongs.
3 Can two people walk together if they do not agree?
4 Will a lion roar in the woods without catching prey? Will a young lion shout from its den if it has caught nothing?
5 Can a bird be caught in a trap on the ground if no one has set one for it? Can someone lift a trap from the ground if it hasn’t caught anything?
6 If a trumpet sounds in the city, won’t the people be scared? If there’s trouble in a city, isn’t it God who has caused it?
7 God will do nothing without revealing his plan to his prophets.
8 The lion has roared, who wouldn’t be afraid? God has spoken, who wouldn’t tell the message?
9 Announce in the palaces of Ashdod and Egypt, say, “Gather on the Samaria mountains and see the big upsets and the oppressed people there.”
10 They do not know how to do right, says God, who keep violence and theft in their homes.
11 So God says: An enemy will surround the country; they will reduce your power, and your grand houses will be robbed.
12 God says, “Like a shepherd saves from the lion’s mouth two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved who live in Samaria on the edge of a bed, and in Damascus on a sofa.”
13 Listen and speak out in the house of Jacob, says God, the God of all.
14 On the day I punish Israel for their sins, I will also destroy the altars of Bethel; the altar horns will be cut off and fall to the ground.
15 I will destroy the winter homes and the summer homes; the ivory houses will be gone, and the big houses will end, says God.