Witnesses Summoned Against Israel

¹ Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you-against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:
² “You only have I chosen
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your sins.”
³ Do two walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?
⁴ Does a lion roar in the thicket
when it has no prey?
Does it growl in its den
when it has caught nothing?
⁵ Does a bird swoop down to a trap on the ground
when no bait is there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
if it has not caught anything?
⁶ When a trumpet sounds in a city,
do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city,
has not the Lord caused it?
⁷ Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing
without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared-
who will not fear?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken-
who can but prophesy?
⁹ Proclaim to the fortresses of Ashdod
and to the fortresses of Egypt:
“Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria;
see the great unrest within her
and the oppression among her people.”
¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” declares the Lord,
“who store up in their fortresses
what they have plundered and looted.”
¹¹ Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“An enemy will overrun your land,
pull down your strongholds
and plunder your fortresses.”
¹² This is what the Lord says:
“As a shepherd rescues from the lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a piece of an ear,
so will the Israelites living in Samaria be rescued,
with only the head of a bed
and a piece of fabric from a couch.”
¹³ “Hear this and testify against the descendants of Jacob,” declares the Lord, the Lord God Almighty.
¹⁴ “On the day I punish Israel for her sins,
I will destroy the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
¹⁵ I will tear down the winter house
along with the summer house;
the houses adorned with ivory will be destroyed
and the mansions will be demolished,”
declares the Lord.