Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

¹ Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt:¹

1. Hebrew “Egypt, saying”

² “You only have I ⌞chosen⌟¹ of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

1. Literally “known”

³ Do two walk together unless they have met?

⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest ⌞when he has no prey⌟?¹ Does a fierce, young lion cry out from his den unless he has caught something?

1. Literally “and there is no prey to him”

⁵ Does a bird fall into a trapping net on the earth when there is no snare for it? Does a trapping net spring up from the ground unless it has certainly caught something?

⁶ Or is a horn blown in a city and people are not afraid? Or does a disaster occur in the city and Yahweh has not done it?

⁷ Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets.

⁸ A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy?

⁹ Proclaim to the citadel fortresses in Ashdod and the citadel fortresses in the land of Egypt and say: “Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic in her midst and the oppression in her midst!”

¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” ⌞declares Yahweh⌟,¹ “those who store up violence and destruction in their citadel fortresses.”

1. Literally “the declaration of Yahweh”

¹¹ Therefore, thus says my Lord Yahweh, “A foe shall surround the land and bring down your strongholds, and your citadel fortresses shall be plundered.”

¹² Thus says Yahweh, “Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the ⌞people⌟¹ of Israel who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a couch and the damask of a bed.”

1. Literally “children”

¹³ “Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,” ⌞declares⌟¹ my Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts.

1. Literally “a declaration of”

¹⁴ “For on the day I punish Israel for ⌞its transgression⌟,¹ I will also punish the altars of Bethel and the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

1. Literally “the transgression of Israel upon it”

¹⁵ I will ruin the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish and the great houses shall come to an end,” ⌞declares⌟¹ Yahweh.

1. Literally “a declaration of”