| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1"Listen to this message that the LORD has spoken about you, people of Israel. It concerns the entire family that I brought from the land of Egypt: | 1Listen, you Israelites, to this message which the LORD is proclaiming against you! This message is for the entire clan I brought up from the land of Egypt: |
| 2You alone have I known from among all of the families of mankind; therefore I will hold you accountable for all your iniquities.'" | 2"I have chosen you alone from all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your sins." |
| 3"Will a couple walk in unity without having met? | 3Do two walk together without having met? |
| 4Will a lion roar in the forest without having found its prey? Will a young lion cry from its den without having caught anything? | 4Does a lion roar in the woods if he has not cornered his prey? Does a young lion bellow from his den if he has not caught something? |
| 5Does a bird fall into a snare on the ground without any bait in the trap? Will a trap snap shut when there is nothing to catch? | 5Does a bird swoop down into a trap on the ground if there is no bait? Does a trap spring up from the ground unless it has surely caught something? |
| 6And when an alarm sounds in the city, the people will tremble, won't they? If there is trouble in a city, the LORD has brought it about, has he not?" | 6If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear? If disaster overtakes a city, is the LORD not responsible? |
| 7"Truly the Lord GOD will do nothing he has mentioned without revealing his purposes to his servants the prophets. | 7Certainly the sovereign LORD does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. |
| 8A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who will not prophesy? | 8A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? The sovereign LORD has spoken! Who can refuse to prophesy? |
| 9Announce this in the fortified citadels of Ashdod, and in the fortified citadels of the land of Egypt. Tell them, 'Gather together on the mountains of Samaria; look at the great misery among the citadels, along with the oppression within Egypt.' | 9Make this announcement in the fortresses of Ashdod and in the fortresses in the land of Egypt. Say this: "Gather on the hills around Samaria! Observe the many acts of violence taking place within the city, the oppressive deeds occurring in it." |
| 10Because they do not know how to act right," declares the LORD, "they are filling their strongholds with treasures that they took from others by violence into their fortified citadels." | 10"They do not know how to do what is right." (The LORD is speaking.) "They store up the spoils of destructive violence in their fortresses. |
| 11Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "An enemy will surround the land. He will pull down your defenses, and plunder your fortified citadels." | 11Therefore," says the sovereign LORD, "an enemy will encircle the land. He will take away your power; your fortresses will be looted." |
| 12This is what the LORD says: "Just as a shepherd might save from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear, the Israelis will be saved in a similar manner— those in Samaria who sit on the remains of their broken beds, and those in Damascus who lie on the edge of their couches." | 12This is what the LORD says: "Just as a shepherd salvages from the lion's mouth a couple of leg bones or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites who live in Samaria will be salvaged. They will be left with just a corner of a bed, and a part of a couch." |
| 13"Listen and testify against the house of Jacob," declares the Lord GOD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, | 13Listen and warn the family of Jacob! The sovereign LORD, the God who commands armies, is speaking! |
| 14"because on that day I will lay out the charges against Israel. I will also bring judgment upon the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and will fall to the ground. | 14"Certainly when I punish Israel for their covenant transgressions, I will destroy Bethel's altars. The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. |
| 15I will wreck both the winter house and the summer house, and the ivory houses will fall. These palaces will surely fall," declares the LORD. | 15I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. The houses filled with ivory will be ruined, the great houses will be swept away." The LORD is speaking! |
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