Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

3 Hear this word that Yahweh has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole clan that I brought up from the land of Egypt:^{[a] 2} “You only have I chosen^[b] of all the clans of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. ³ Do two walk together unless they have met? ⁴ Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?^[c] Does a fierce, young lion cry out from his den unless he has caught something? ⁵ Does a bird fall into a trapping net on the earth when there is no snare for it? Does a trapping net spring up from the ground unless it has certainly caught something? ⁶ Or is a horn blown in a city and people are not afraid? Or does a disaster occur in the city and Yahweh has not done it? ⁷ Surely my Lord does not do anything unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets. ⁸ A lion has roared! Who is not afraid? My Lord Yahweh has spoken, who will not prophesy? ⁹ Proclaim to the citadel fortresses in Ashdod and the citadel fortresses in the land of Egypt and say: “Gather on the mountains of Samaria and see the great panic in her midst and the oppression in her midst!” ¹⁰ “They do not know how to do right,” declares Yahweh,^[d] “those who store up violence and destruction in their citadel fortresses.” ¹¹ Therefore, thus says my Lord Yahweh, “A foe shall surround the land and bring down your strongholds, and your citadel fortresses shall be plundered.” ¹² Thus says Yahweh, “Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or a piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so shall the people^[e] of Israel who dwell in Samaria, with the corner of a couch and the damask of a bed.” ¹³ “Listen and testify against the house of Jacob,” declares^[f] my Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts. ¹⁴ “For on the day I punish Israel for its transgression,^[g] I will also punish the altars of Bethel and the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground. ¹⁵ I will ruin the winter house as well as the summer house, and the houses of ivory will perish and the great houses shall come to an end,” declares^[h] Yahweh.