Amos 3

1 “You people of Israel, I brought all your ancestors out of Egypt; so listen to what I am saying about you.

Hear ye this word, O house of Israel, which the Lord has spoken concerning you, and against the whole family whom I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying,

2 From all the people-groups on the earth, I [chose and] took care of only you. That is the reason that I will punish you for the sins that you have committed.”

You especially have I known out of all the families of the earth: therefore will I take vengeance upon you for all your sins.

3 Two [people] certainly cannot [RHQ] walk together if they have not [already] agreed [about what place they will start walking from].

Shall two walk together at all, if they do not know one another?

4 A lion certainly does not [RHQ] roar in the bushes/forest if it has not killed another animal. It does not [RHQ] growl in its den if it is not eating [the flesh of an animal that it has caught].

Will a lion roar out of his thicket if he has no prey? will a [lion's] whelp utter his voice at all out of his lair, if he have taken nothing?

5 No one can [RHQ] catch a bird if [he does] not [set] a trap for it. A trap does not spring shut unless some [animal] has not sprung the trap.

Will a bird fall on the earth without a fowler? will a snare be taken up from the earth without having taken anything?

6 [Similarly, all] the people in a city certainly [RHQ] become afraid when [they hear someone] blowing a trumpet [to signal that enemies are attacking]. And when a city experiences disaster, Yahweh is the one who has caused it [RHQ].

Shall the trumpet sound in the city, and the people not be alarmed? shall there be evil in a city which the Lord has not wrought?

7 And whatever Yahweh plans to do, he tells his prophets about it.

For the Lord God will do nothing, without revealing instruction to his servants the prophets.

8 Everyone certainly becomes terrified [RHQ] when they hear a lion roar, and if Yahweh the Lord has given messages [to prophets like me], we certainly must [RHQ] proclaim those messages, [even if they cause people to become terrified].

A lion shall roar, and who will not be alarmed? the Lord God has spoken, and who will not prophesy?

9 [I said this to the leaders of Samaria] (OR, [Yahweh said this to me]): Send this message to the leaders [MET] in Ashdod [city] and to Egypt: “Come to the hills of Samaria and see [the way that their (leaders/wealthy people)] are causing people in that city to be terrified, and [the way that they] are causing the people to suffer!”

Proclaim it to the regions among the Assyrians, and to the regions of Egypt, and say, Gather yourselves to the mountain of Samaria, and behold many wonderful things in the midst of it, and the oppression that is in it.

10 Yahweh says that the people there do not know how to do things that are right. Their homes are filled with [valuable things] that they have stolen or [taken] violently [from others].

And she knew not what things would come against her, saith the Lord, [even] those that store up wrong and misery in their countries.

11 So Yahweh [our] God says that [soon] their enemies will come and tear down their (defenses/high city walls) and take away those valuable things.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; O Tyre, thy land shall be made desolate round about [thee]; and he shall bring down thy strength out of thee, and thy countries shall be spoiled.

12 Yahweh has declared this: “When a lion attacks a sheep, [sometimes] a shepherd will be able to snatch from the lion’s mouth only two legs or an ear of the sheep. Similarly, [only] a few people from Samaria will escape, and [they will be able to rescue only] a part of a couch and a part of a bed.”

Thus saith the Lord; As when a shepherd rescues from the mouth of a lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall be drawn forth the children of Israel who dwell in Samaria in the presence of [a foreign] tribe, and in Damascus.

13 The Commander of the armies of angels said this: “Proclaim [this message] about the descendants [MTY] of Jacob:

Hear, O ye priests, and testify to the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God Almighty.

14 When I, Yahweh, punish [the people of] Israel because of the sins that they have committed, I will cause the altars at Bethel [town] to be destroyed; even the projections at the corners of the altars will be cut off and fall to the ground.

For in the day wherein I shall take vengeance of the sins of Israel upon him, I will also take vengeance on the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be broken down, and they shall fall upon the ground.

15 I will cause the houses [that they live in during] the (winter/rainy season) and those [in which they live during] the (summer/dry season) to be torn down. [Beautiful] big houses and houses [that are decorated] with ivory will be destroyed. [That will surely happen because I], Yahweh, have said it!”

I will crush and smite the turreted-house upon the summer-house; and the ivory-houses shall be destroyed, and many other houses also, saith the Lord.