1Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt. He says:
2"Out of all the families of the earth, you only have I known. So I will punish you for all your sins."
3Can two walk together, unless they have agreed?
4Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out from his den if he has caught nothing?
5Can a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare is set for him? Does a trap spring up from the ground when it has caught nothing at all?
6If a trumpet is blown in the city, will the people not be afraid? If evil comes on a city, has the LORD not done it?
7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
8The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can do anything but prophesy?
9Announce it in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, "Gather yourselves on the mountains of Samaria. Look at the great uproar inside her, and the oppressed people inside her."
10"For they do not know how to do right," says the LORD. "They store up violence and robbery in their palaces."
11Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "An enemy will be all around the land. He will bring down your strength from you, and your palaces will be plundered."
12This is what the LORD says: "As the shepherd pulls two legs, or a piece of an ear, out of the mouth of the lion, so will the people of Israel be pulled out - those who live in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch."
13"Hear, and testify against the house of Jacob," says the Lord GOD, the God of hosts.
14"On the day when I punish Israel for its wrongs, I will also punish the altars of Bethel. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground."
15"And I will strike the winter house along with the summer house. The houses of ivory will perish, and the great houses will come to an end," says the LORD.