Amos 3

1Hear this word the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel-against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

2"You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins."

3Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

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

5Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch?

6When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?

7Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

8The lion has roared- who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has spoken- who can but prophesy?

9Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt: "Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest within her and the oppression among her people."

10"They do not know how to do right," declares the Lord , "who hoard plunder and loot in their fortresses."

11Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "An enemy will overrun the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses."

12This is what the Lord says: "As a shepherd saves from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches. "

13"Hear this and testify against the house of Jacob," declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.

14"On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.

15I will tear down the winter house along with the summer house; the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed and the mansions will be demolished," declares the Lord .