The Book of AMOS - Chapter Three

 

 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.

 

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READINGS 

The Book of AMOS

Chapter Three

Read by David Suchet 

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OVERVIEW

The Book of AMOS

(The Bible Project) 

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STUDY - LINKS

 The Book of AMOS

(David Pawson)

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