1People of Israel, the Lord has saved you all out of Egypt. Listen to what He says to you:
2‘There are many nations in the world,
but I did not choose one of them.
I chose you.
That is why I will punish you
for everything you did wrong.’
The work of a prophet
3Before 2 people start to walk together,
they must first decide to do it.
4A lion in the forest will roar only
after catching an animal.
A young lion will not roar in his cave
if he has not caught something.
5A bird will not fly into a trap on the ground
if there is no food there.
A trap will not close if there is not a bird in it.
6When someone blows the trumpet in the city
to warn the people that the enemies are coming,
the people become afraid.
When the Lord says
the people in a city will suffer, it happens.
7Yes, when the Lord decides to do something,
He first tells his servants, the prophets,
what He wants to do.
8When the lion roars, people become afraid.
When the Lord says something,
his people start to prophesy.
The Lord will punish the Israelites in Samaria
9The Lord says:
‘You must go and talk to the people
in the strong buildings in the town of Ashdod
and in the land of Egypt.
You must tell them:
“Come together on the mountains
around the city of Samaria.
Come and see how the people suffer in the city.” ’
10The Lord says:
‘The strong buildings of the people
are full of things that they have stolen
from other people.
They do not know how to do what is right.
11That is why there are enemies around the land.
They will destroy your walls
and they will take everything
in your strong buildings for themselves.’
12The Lord says:
‘When a lion kills a sheep,
what can the shepherd do to save the sheep?
Maybe he can grab 2 of its legs
or a piece of its ear out of the mouth of the lion.
That is how little will be left over
of the Israelites.
They will be left with only
a small part of a bed, only a corner.’
13The Lord who rules over all says:
‘You must listen and warn the people of Jacob.
14When I punish the people of Israel for their sins,
I will break down the altars in the town of Bethel.
I will cut off the horns_of_the_altar
and throw them onto the ground.
15I will break down the houses
where they live in the summer
and the houses where they live in winter time.
There will be nothing left of the houses
that they have made beautiful with ivory.
There will be nothing left of all the houses.’
This is what the Lord says.
