Amos 2:4–3:15

4 Thus says the LORD:

  “For three transgressions of Judah,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
  because they have rejected the law of the LORD,
    and have not kept his statutes,
  but their lies have led them astray,
    those after which their fathers walked.
5   So I will send a fire upon Judah,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.”

6 Thus says the LORD:

  “For three transgressions of Israel,
    and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
  because they sell the righteous for silver,
    and the needy for a pair of sandals—
7   those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth
    and turn aside the way of the afflicted;
  a man and his father go in to the same girl,
    so that my holy name is profaned;
8   they lay themselves down beside every altar
    on garments taken in pledge,
  and in the house of their God they drink
    the wine of those who have been fined.
9   “Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them,
    whose height was like the height of the cedars
    and who was as strong as the oaks;
  I destroyed his fruit above
    and his roots beneath.
10   Also it was I who brought you up out of the land of Egypt
    and led you forty years in the wilderness,
    to possess the land of the Amorite.
11   And I raised up some of your sons for prophets,
    and some of your young men for Nazirites.
    Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel?”
      declares the LORD.
12   “But you made the Nazirites drink wine,
    and commanded the prophets,
    saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’
13   “Behold, I will press you down in your place,
    as a cart full of sheaves presses down.
14   Flight shall perish from the swift,
    and the strong shall not retain his strength,
    nor shall the mighty save his life;
15   he who handles the bow shall not stand,
    and he who is swift of foot shall not save himself,
    nor shall he who rides the horse save his life;
16   and he who is stout of heart among the mighty
    shall flee away naked in that day,”
      declares the LORD.

3:1 Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2   “You only have I known
    of all the families of the earth;
  therefore I will punish you
    for all your iniquities.
3   “Do two walk together,
    unless they have agreed to meet?
4   Does a lion roar in the forest,
    when he has no prey?
  Does a young lion cry out from his den,
    if he has taken nothing?
5   Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth,
    when there is no trap for it?
  Does a snare spring up from the ground,
    when it has taken nothing?
6   Is a trumpet blown in a city,
    and the people are not afraid?
  Does disaster come to a city,
    unless the LORD has done it?
7   “For the Lord GOD does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
8   The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
  The Lord GOD has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”
9   Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod
    and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt,
  and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
    and see the great tumults within her,
    and the oppressed in her midst.”
10   “They do not know how to do right,” declares the LORD,
    “those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds.”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

  “An adversary shall surround the land
    and bring down your defenses from you,
    and your strongholds shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the people of Israel who dwell in Samaria be rescued, with the corner of a couch and part of a bed.

13   “Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob,”
    declares the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
14   “that on the day I punish Israel for his transgressions,
    I will punish the altars of Bethel,
  and the horns of the altar shall be cut off
    and fall to the ground.
15   I will strike the winter house along with the summer house,
    and the houses of ivory shall perish,
  and the great houses shall come to an end,”
      declares the LORD.