1Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:
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2“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth.
- Therefore I will punish you for all of your sins.”
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3Do two walk together,
- unless they have agreed?
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4Will a lion roar in the thicket,
- when he has no prey?
- Does a young lion cry out of his den,
- if he has caught nothing?
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5Can a bird fall in a trap on the earth,
- where no snare is set for him?
- Does a snare spring up from the ground,
- when there is nothing to catch?
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6Does the trumpet alarm sound in a city,
- without the people being afraid?
- Does evil happen to a city,
- and Yahweh hasn’t done it?
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7Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing,
- unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.
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8The lion has roared.
- Who will not fear?
- The Lord Yahweh has spoken.
- Who can but prophesy?
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9Proclaim in the palaces at Ashdod,
- and in the palaces in the land of Egypt,
- and say, “Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria,
- and see what unrest is in her,
- and what oppression is among them.”
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10“Indeed they don’t know to do right,” says Yahweh,
- “Who hoard plunder and loot in their palaces.”
11Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:
- “An adversary will overrun the land;
- and he will pull down your strongholds,
- and your fortresses will be plundered.”
12Thus says Yahweh:
- “As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs,
- or a piece of an ear,
- so shall the children of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria on the corner of a couch,
- and on the silken cushions of a bed.”
13“Listen, and testify against the house of Jacob,” says the Lord Yahweh, the God of Armies.
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14“For in the day that I 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.
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15I will strike the winter house with the summer house;
- and the houses of ivory will perish,
- and the great houses will have an end,”
says Yahweh.