 1 Hear this Word that the Lord has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family that 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. 3 Can two walk together unless they are agreed? 4 Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey for him? Will a young lion cry out of his den unless he has caught? 5 Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground, and there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground, and nothing at all be caught? 6 If 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? 7 For the Lord God will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. 8 The lion has roared. Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken. Who will not prophesy? 9 Make it heard at the palaces of Ashdod and the palaces in the land of Egypt and say: Gather together on the mountains of Samaria and behold the great uproars in its midst and the oppressed in its midst. 10 For they do not know to do right, says the Lord, those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces. 11 So the Lord God says this: An enemy. And he will be all around the land. And he will bring you down from your strength, and your palaces will be plundered. 12 Thus says the Lord: As the shepherd takes two legs out of the mouth of the lion, or a piece of an ear. So the children of Israel will be taken out, those who live in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch. 13 Hear and testify in the house of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of hosts, 14 for in the day that I will visit the transgressions of Israel on him, I will also visit the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. 15 I will strike the winter house together with the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish. And the great houses will be swept away, says the Lord.
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