¹Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you , children of Israel , against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt , saying :

²“I have only chosen you of all the families of the earth.

Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins .”

³Do two walk together ,

unless they have agreed ?

⁴Will a lion roar in the thicket,

when he has no prey ?

Does a young lion cry out of his den ,

if he has caught nothing ?

⁵Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth ,

where no snare is set for him ?

Does a snare spring up from the ground,

when there is nothing to catch ?

⁶Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city ,

without the people being afraid ?

Does evil happen to a city ,

and the LORD hasn’t done it ?

⁷Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing ,

unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets .

⁸The lion has roared .

Who will not fear ?

The Lord GOD has spoken .

Who can but prophesy ?

⁹Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,

and in the palaces in the land of Egypt ,

and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria ,

and see what unrest is in her ,

and what oppression is amongst them .”

¹⁰“Indeed they don’t know to do right ,” says the LORD ,

“Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”

¹¹Therefore the Lord GOD says :

“An adversary will overrun the land;

and he will pull down your strongholds,

and your fortresses will be plundered.”

¹²The LORD says :

“As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs ,

or a piece of an ear,

so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch ,

and on the silken cushions of a bed .”

¹³“Listen , and testify against the house of Jacob ,” says the Lord GOD , the God of Armies .

¹⁴“For in the day that I visit the transgressions of Israel on him ,

I will also visit the altars of Bethel ;

and the horns of the altar will be cut off ,

and fall to the ground.

¹⁵I will strike the winter house with the summer house ;

and the houses of ivory will perish ,

and the great houses will have an end ,”

says the LORD .