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3. Witnesses Against Israel

¹ Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the LORD has spoken against you—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.”

    ³ Do two walk together
   unless they have agreed to do so?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the thicket
   when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
   when it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
   when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
   if it has not caught anything?
⁶ When a trumpet sounds in a city,
   do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
   has not the LORD caused it?

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

    ⁸ The lion has roared—
   who will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken—
   who can but prophesy?

    ⁹ Proclaim 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 store up in their fortresses
   what they have plundered and looted.”

¹¹ Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

   “An enemy will overrun your land,
   pull down your strongholds
   and plunder your fortresses.”

¹² This is what the LORD says:

   “As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
   only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
   with only the head of a bed
   and a piece of fabric The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. from a couch. Or Israelites be rescued, / those who sit in Samaria / on the edge of their beds / and in Damascus on their couches.”

¹³ “Hear this and testify against the descendants 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.
¹⁵ I 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.

The Prophet wished doubtless by these words to confirm his own authority, for he saw that his doctrine was regarded with contempt: and it is probable that the words recited here were not only once delivered by him, but had been often repeated. We know how great was the pride and confidence of that people: it was therefore needful to beat it down, that they might be habituated to dread and fear, when God reproved them by his Prophets.

It was then the common mode of speaking, when he said, Hear the word which God has spoken concerning your, O children of Israel. He brings forward here the name of God, that they might know that they had not to do with a mortal man, or with a shepherd, such as he was. We then observe here, what I have just referred to, and that is, that the Prophet seeks to strengthen his authority as a teacher, that he might gain more respect among the people. But he adds, concerning the whole family which I brought up out of Egypt It is certain that this discourse was not addressed except to the ten tribes; why, then, does the Prophet speak here so generally? Even because the kingdom of Israel formed the greater portion of the race of Abraham, and on this account they boasted that the adoption continued to be possessed by them. Since, then, they despised the tribe of Judah, and the half-tribe of Benjamin, which was connected with it, and had ever boasted of their great number, the Prophet says here, by way of concession, that they were indeed the blessed seed, the posterity of Abraham; in a word, the elect people, whom God had redeemed from Egypt. Then the Prophet includes not here the kingdom of Judah, but concedes to the Israelites what they boasted, — that they were the elect people, the holy race of Abraham, the very nation which had been miraculously delivered. “Let, then,” he says, “all these boastings be granted, yet God will not, on this account, desist from executing his judgment upon them.”

We now apprehend the design of the Prophet: he first seeks to gain respect for his doctrine, and takes occasion to speak of his own vocation, that he brought nothing of his own, but only discharged faithfully the office committed to him; yea, that he was the organ of the Holy Spirit, and adduced nothing from his own mind, but only spoke what the Lord had commanded him. And then, as the Israelites, relying on their large number, thought that wrong was done them, when they were severely reprehended by the Prophets, and as there was an absurd rivalship between them and the kingdom of Judah, the Prophet concedes to them that for which they were foolishly proud; but, at the same time, he shows that they in vain confided in their number, inasmuch as God summoned them to judgment, though they were the elect people, and the holy seed, and the redeemed nation. These are the main points.