Amos 3–4: Only You Have I Known … Therefore I Will Punish You": The Lion Has Roared
Scripture: Berean Standard Bible
Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
“Only you have I knownfrom all the families of the earth;therefore I will punish youfor all your iniquities.”
Can two walk togetherwithout agreeing where to go?Does a lion roar in the forestwhen he has no prey?Does a young lion growl in his denif he has caught nothing?Does a bird land in a snarewhere no bait has been set?Does a trap spring from the groundwhen it has nothing to catch?If a ram’s horn sounds in a city,do the people not tremble?If calamity comes to a city,has not the LORD caused it?
Surely the Lord GOD does nothingwithout revealing his planto his servants the prophets.The lion has roared—who will not fear?The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdodand to the citadels of Egypt:“Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;see the great unrest in the cityand the acts of oppression in her midst.”
“For they know not how to do right,”declares the LORD.“They store up violence and destructionin their citadels.”
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:
“An enemy will surround the land;he will pull down your strongholdsand plunder your citadels.”
This is what the LORD says:
“As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the liontwo legs or a piece of an ear,so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescuedhaving just the corner of a bedor the cushion of a couch.
Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel;the horns of the altar will be cut off,and they will fall to the ground.I will tear down the winter housealong with the summer house;the houses of ivory will also perish,and the great houses will come to an end,”declares the LORD.Hear this word,you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,you women who oppress the poorand crush the needy,who say to your husbands,“Bring us more to drink.”
The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness:
“Behold, the days are comingwhen you will be taken away with hooks,and your posterity with fishhooks.You will go out through broken walls,each one straight ahead of her,and you will be cast out toward Harmon,”declares the LORD.“Go to Bethel and transgress;rebel even more at Gilgal!Bring your sacrifices every morning,your tithes every three days.Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings.For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”declares the Lord GOD.“I beset all your cities with cleanness of teethand all your towns with lack of bread,yet you did not return to me,”declares the LORD.“I also withheld the rain from youwhen the harvest was three months away.I sent rain on one citybut withheld it from another.One field received rain;another without rain withered.People staggered from city to cityfor water to drink,but they were not satisfied;yet you did not return to me,”declares the LORD.“I struck you with blight and mildewin your growing gardens and vineyards;the locust devoured your fig and olive trees,yet you did not return to me,”declares the LORD.“I sent plagues among youlike those of Egypt;I killed your young men with the sword,along with your captured horses.I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp,yet you did not return to me,”declares the LORD.“Some of you I overthrewas I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze,yet you did not return to me,”declares the LORD.“Therefore, that is what I will doto you, O Israel,and since I will do this to you,prepare to meet your God, O Israel!For behold, he who forms the mountains,who creates the windand reveals his thoughts to man,who turns the dawn to darknessand strides on the heights of the earth—the LORD, the God of Hosts, is his name.”