3:1   People of Israel, I rescued you from Egypt. Now listen to my judgment against you.

3:2   Of all nations on earth, you are the only one I have chosen. That's why I will punish you because of your sins.

3:3   Can two people walk together without agreeing to meet?

3:4   Does a lion roar in the forest unless it has caught a victim? Does it growl in its den unless it is eating?

3:5   How can anyone catch a bird without using a net? Does a trap spring shut unless something is caught?

3:6   Isn't the whole city frightened when the trumpet signals an attack? Isn't it the LORD who brings disaster on a city?

3:7   Whatever the LORD God plans to do, he tells his servants, the prophets.

3:8   Everyone is terrified when a lion roars-- and ordinary people become prophets when the LORD God speaks.

3:9   Here is a message for the leaders of Philistia and Egypt-- tell everyone to come together on the hills of Samaria. Let them see the injustice and the lawlessness in that city.

3:10   The LORD has said that they don't even know how to do right. They have become rich from violence and robbery.

3:11   And so the LORD God has sworn that they will be surrounded. Enemies will break through their defenses and steal their treasures.

3:12   The LORD has promised that only a few from Samaria will escape with their lives and with some broken pieces of their beds and couches. It will be like when a shepherd rescues two leg bones and part of a sheep's ear from the jaws of a lion.

3:13   The LORD God All-Powerful told me to speak this message against Jacob's descendants:

3:14   When I, the LORD, punish Israel for their sins, I will destroy the altars at Bethel. Even the corners of the altar will be left in the dirt.

3:15   I will tear down winter homes and summer homes. Houses decorated with ivory and all other mansions will be gone forever. I, the LORD, have spoken!