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Chapter Summary
Does a lion roar when it has no prey? The LORD reveals his plans to the prophets. "On the day I punish Israel, I will punish Bethel."
1Listen to the word which the Lord has spoken about you, sons of Israel, concerning the whole family that I led out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2I have known only you in such a way, out of all the families of the earth. For this reason, I will visit upon you all your iniquities. 3Will two walk together, unless they have agreed to do so? 4Will a lion roar in the forest, unless he has prey? Will the lion’s young cry out from his den, unless he has taken something? 5Will a bird fall into a snare on the ground, if there is no bird-catcher? Will a snare be taken away from the ground, before it has caught something? 6Will the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not become frightened? Will there be disaster in a city, which the Lord has not done? 7For the Lord God does not fulfill his word, unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets. 8The lion will roar, who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy? 9Let it be heard in the buildings of Ashdod and in the buildings of the land of Egypt, and say: Gather together across the mountains of Samaria, and see the many absurdities in its midst, and those who are suffering false accusations in its inner most places. 10And they do not know how to make it right, says the Lord, storing up iniquity and plunder in their buildings. 11Because of these things, thus says the Lord God: The land will be encircled and squeezed together. And your strength will be drawn away from you, and your buildings will be torn apart. 12Thus says the Lord: Just as if a shepherd had rescued two legs from the mouth of a lion, or the tip of an ear, so also will the sons of Israel be rescued, who dwell in the sick bed of Samaria, and in the cot of Damascus. 13Listen and give testimony in the house of Jacob, says the Lord God of hosts: 14that in the day, when I will begin to visit the betrayals of Israel, I will visit upon him and upon the altars of Bethel. And the horns of the altars will be cut off and will fall to the ground. 15And I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory will perish, and many buildings will be torn apart, says the Lord.