Amos 3:1-10 ▼

1 Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the LORD is proclaiming against you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt:

2 I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins.|

3 Do two walk together without having met?

4 Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey? Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something?

5 Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something?

6 If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear? If disaster overtakes a city, is the LORD not responsible?

7 Certainly the sovereign LORD does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

8 A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? The sovereign LORD has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy?

9 Make this announcement in the fortresses of Ashdod and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt. Say this: |Gather on the hills around Samaria! Observe the many acts of violence taking place within the city, the oppressive deeds occurring in it.|

10 They do not know how to do what is right.| (The LORD is speaking.) |They store up the spoils of destructive violence in their fortresses.