Amos, 3
The evils that shall fall upon Israel for their sins.
[1] Hear the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O ye children of Israel: concerning the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying: •
[2] You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon 1 you all your iniquities. •
Visit upon: That is, punish.
[3] Shall two walk together except they be agreed? •
[4] Will a lion roar in the forest, if he have no prey? will the lion's whelp cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing? •
[5] Will the bird fall into the snare upon the earth, if there be no fowler? Shall the snare be taken up from the earth, before it hath taken somewhat? •
[6] Shall the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city 1, which the Lord hath not done? •
Evil in a city: He speaks of the evil of punishments of war, famine, pestilence, desolation, etc., but not of the evil of sin, of which God is not the author.
[7] For the Lord God doth nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. •
[8] The lion shall roar, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who shall not prophesy? •
[9] Publish it in the houses of Azotus, and in the houses of the land of Egypt, and say: Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the many follies in the midst thereof, and them that suffer oppression in the inner rooms thereof. •
[10] And they have not known to do the right thing, saith the Lord, storing up iniquity, and robberies in their houses.
[11] Therefore thus saith the Lord God: The land shall be in tribulation, and shall be compassed about: and thy strength shall be taken away from thee, and thy houses shall be spoiled. •
[12] Thus saith the Lord: As if a shepherd should get out of the lion's mouth two legs, or the tip of the ear: so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria, in a place of a bed, and in the couch of Damascus. •
[13] Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord the God of hosts:
[14] That in the day when I shall begin to visit the transgressions of Israel, I will visit upon him, and upon the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altars shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground. •
[15] And I will strike the winter house with the summer house: and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall be destroyed, saith the Lord. •