1‘Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, “O children of Israel, against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt, 2You only, have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your sins.”

3Can two walk together, unless they have agreed to do so? 4Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl from his den, if he has taken nothing? 5 Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground when there no bait laid for him? Does a trap spring shut if it has caught nothing at all? 6When a trumpet sounds in the city, will the people not be alarmed? Shall disaster occur in a city, that the LORD has not allowed? 7Surely the Sovereign LORD God will do 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 refuse to proclaim His message?

9‘Proclaim in the fortresses at Ashdod, and those of Egypt, and say, “Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and witness the great chaos and the oppression in Israel. 10For My people have forgotten how to do right, says the LORD; their storehouses are filled with wealth taken by violence and robbery.” 11Therefore, thus says the Sovereign LORD God: “An enemy shall overrun the land, and he shall tear down your strongholds, and your fortresses.”

12‘Thus says the LORD: “As the shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep removes only two legs, or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the children of Israel in Samaria, or that recline on a couch in Damascus be recovered with only in the corner or a piece of fabric from their bed. 13Hear, and then testify in the house of Jacob”, says the LORD, the LORD God Almighty, 14“That on the day that I shall impose My judgment of Israel upon him, for his transgressions, I will also destroy the altars of Bethel; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15And I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; and the houses adorned with ivory shall be demolished, and all the ivory palaces shall come to an end”, says the LORD.