A Warning to Israel

3 Listen to this message, Israelites,

which the Lord has spoken against you,

against the whole nation that I brought out of Egypt:

2 You alone have I cared for of all the nations of the world,

this is why I will punish you for your crimes.

3 Do two walk together

unless they agreed to meet?

4 Does a lion roar in the forest

when there is no prey for him?

Does a young lion cry out in his den

unless he has caught something?

5 Does a bird swoop down into a trap

if no bait is set for it?

Does a trap spring up from the ground

if nothing sets it off?

6 Can a trumpet be blown in a city

and the people not tremble?

Can disaster strike a city

and the Lord not have caused it?

7 Surely the Lord God does nothing

without revealing his purpose to his servants the prophets.

8 The lion has roared; who does not fear?

The Lord God has spoken; who will not prophesy?

9 Proclaim over the palaces in Ashdod,

and over the palaces in the land of Egypt:

Gather upon the mountain of Samaria,

and see the violent turmoil,

the acts of oppression in her midst.

10 For they do not know how to do right.

They are heaping up violence

and oppression in their palaces,

says the Lord.

11 Therefore the Lord God says:

An enemy will surround the land,

he will strip your strength from you.

and your palaces will be looted.

12 The Lord says:

Just as a shepherd rescues from the jaws of a lion

two shinbones or a piece of an ear,

so the Israelites living in Sameria will be rescued –

with the corner of a couch,

and the damask of a divan!

13 Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,

says the Lord God, the God of hosts.

14 On the day when I punish Israel for their crimes,

I will also visit in judgment the altars of Bethel,

the horns of the altar will be hacked off,

and they will fall to the ground.

15 I will destroy the winter houses

together with the summer houses

and the houses of ivory will perish.

Many great houses will be swept away,

says the Lord.

4 Listen to this message, women of Sameria,

you well-fed cows of Bashan,

who oppress the poor and crush the needy,

who say to your husbands, ‘Bring us another drink!’

2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness:

The time is coming when you will be carried away in baskets,

your children carried away in fish-baskets,

3 and through the breaches in the city wall you will go,

thrown out on the garbage dump,

says the Lord.

4 Come to Bethel and transgress,

at Gilgald increase your transgression.

Bring your sacrifices in the morning,

every third day your tithes!

5 Burn some leavened bread as a thank-offering,

proclaim aloud your voluntary offerings,

for you love to do this, Israelites!

says the Lord God.

6 But it was I who gave to you

empty stomachs in all your cities,

and lack of bread in all your towns,

yet you have not returned to me,

says the Lord.

7 It was I who withheld from you the rain,

sending rain on one city,

while on another I allowed no rain.

One field received rain,

while a field without rain withered.

8 People from two or three cities

ranged as far as another city

for drinking water,

and still they did not have enough,

yet you did not return to me,

says the Lord.

9 I struck you with blight and mildew,

I laid waste your gardens and vineyards.

The swarming locust devoured your fig and your olive trees,

yet you did not return to me,

says the Lord.

10 I sent plague among you like the plagues of Egypt,

I slew your youths with the sword, your horses raided away,

I caused the stench of your camps to rise in your nostrils,

yet you did not return to me,

says the Lord.

11 I wrought a destruction among you,

as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

You were like a stick snatched from the fire,

yet you did not return to me,

says the Lord.

12 Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel,

and because I am about to do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, Israel.

13 He is here!

He who forms the mountains,

creates the wind,

declares to his thoughts to mortals,

makes dawn and darkness,

treads upon the heights of the earth,

the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!