Study

3. Witnesses Against Israel

    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.