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

² “Only you have I known¹ from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

1. Or chosen

³ Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?¹

1. Or without an appointment to meet

⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?

⁵ Does a bird land in a snare where no bait has been set? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has nothing to catch?

⁶ If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?

⁷ Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.

⁸ The lion has roared— who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken— who will not prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod and to the citadels of Egypt: “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest in the city and the acts of oppression in her midst.”

¹⁰ “For they know not how to do right,” declares the LORD. “They store up violence and destruction in their citadels.”

¹¹ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “An enemy¹ will surround the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your citadels.”

1. Or An adversary

¹² This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.¹

1. Or so will the Israelites be snatched away, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches

¹³ Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.

¹⁴ On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.

¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses of ivory will also perish, and the great houses will come to an end,” declares the LORD.