1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

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

3Can two walk together unless they be agreed?

4Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing?

5Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground, when there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground, and nothing at all be caught?

6If a ram's horn is blown in a city, will the people not also tremble? If there is a calamity in a city, has the LORD not also done it?

7Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing unless He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets.

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

9Make it heard at the palaces of Ashdod, and the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, 'Gather yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in its midst, and the oppressed within it, 10For they do not know to do right,' says the LORD, 'those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. ' "

11Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "An enemy! And he shall be all around the land; and he shall bring you down from your strength, and your palaces shall be plundered."

12Thus says the LORD, "As the shepherd takes two legs out of the mouth of the lion, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out--those who dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch.

13Hear and testify in the house of Jacob," says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,

14"For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altar shall be cut off and shall fall to the ground.

15And I will strike the winter house together with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish. And the great houses shall be swept away," says the LORD.