1 ARST “You people of Israel, I brought all your ancestors out of Egypt; so listen to what I am saying about you. BSB BSB: Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
2 ARST From all the people groups on the earth, I chose and took care of only you. That is the reason that I will punish you for the sins that you have committed.” BSB BSB: “Only you have I known from all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”
3 ARST Two people certainly cannot walk together if they have not already agreed what place they will start walking from. BSB BSB: Can two walk together without agreeing where to go?
4 ARST A lion in a forest certainly does not roar if it has not killed another animal. It does not growl in its den if it is not eating the flesh of an animal that it has caught. BSB BSB: Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Does a young lion growl in his den if he has caught nothing?
5 ARST No one can catch a bird if he does not set a trap for it. A trap does not spring shut when some animal has not sprung the trap. BSB BSB: Does a bird land in a snare where no bait has been set? Does a trap spring from the ground when it has nothing to catch?
6 ARST Similarly, all the people in a city certainly become afraid when they hear someone blowing a horn to signal that enemies are attacking. And when a city experiences disaster, Yahweh is the one who has caused it. BSB BSB: If a ram’s horn sounds in a city, do the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
7 ARST For Yahweh the Lord does nothing without first disclosing his secret plans to the prophets, his servants. BSB BSB: Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.
8 ARST Everyone certainly becomes terrified when they hear a lion roar; Yahweh the Lord has given messages to his prophets, and that is why I am proclaiming his message to you, even though it may terrify you. BSB BSB: The lion has roared—who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken—who will not prophesy?
9 ARST Proclaim to the people in the strongholds in Ashdod, and to the people in the fortresses in the land of Egypt say this:“Come together on the hills of Samaria, and see how much the people in that city are frightened, and see the way the people are suffering because of what they are doing to each other!” BSB BSB: Proclaim to the citadels of Ashdod and to the citadels of Egypt: “Assemble on the mountains of Samaria; see the great unrest in the city and the acts of oppression in her midst.”
10 ARST The people there do not know how to do things that are right. They have filled their fortresses with valuable things they stole or took violently from others.” Yahweh has declared this. BSB BSB: “For they know not how to do right,” declares the LORD. “They store up violence and destruction in their citadels.”
11 ARST Therefore Yahweh our Lord has declared this:" Doom is coming! Soon their enemies will come into their land and tear down their defenses and take away those valuable things. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “An enemy will surround the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your citadels.”
12 ARST Yahweh has declared this:“When a lion attacks a sheep, sometimes a shepherd is able to snatch from the lion’ s mouth only two legs or an ear of the sheep. Similarly, only a few people from Samaria will escape, just as if someone could save only a part of a couch or a bed from a fire in the house.” BSB BSB: This is what the LORD says: “As the shepherd snatches from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so the Israelites dwelling in Samaria will be rescued having just the corner of a bed or the cushion of a couch.
13 ARST Yahweh our Lord, the commander of the angel armies, has decalred this:“Proclaim this message about the descendants of Jacob: BSB BSB: Hear and testify against the house of Jacob, declares the Lord GOD, the God of Hosts.
14 ARST For on the day of judgment when I punish the people of Israel because of the sins that they have committed, I will destroy the altars at the town of Bethel; even the projections at the corners of the altars will break and fall to the ground. BSB BSB: On the day I punish Israel for their transgressions, I will visit destruction on the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off, and they will fall to the ground.