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

3:2 "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins."

3:3 Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?

3:4 Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey? Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing?

3:5 Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set? Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch?

3:6 When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?

3:7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

3:8 The lion has roared--who will not fear? The Sovereign LORD has spoken--who can but prophesy?

3:9 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."

3:10 "They do not know how to do right," declares the LORD, "who hoard plunder and loot in their fortresses."

3:11 Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "An enemy will overrun the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your fortresses."

3:12 This is what the LORD says: "As a shepherd saves from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear, so will the Israelites be saved, those who sit in Samaria on the edge of their beds and in Damascus on their couches."

3:13 "Hear this and testify against the house of Jacob," declares the Lord, the LORD God Almighty.

3:14 "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.

3:15 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.