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Amos 3
New King James Version

### Authority of the Prophet’s Message

3 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

2 “You(A) only have I known of all the families of the earth;
(B)Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion [a]cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no [b]trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6 If a [c]trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
(C)If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

7 Surely the Lord God does nothing,
Unless (D)He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
8 A lion has roared!
Who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken!
(E)Who can but prophesy?

### Punishment of Israel’s Sins

9 “Proclaim in the palaces at [d]Ashdod,
And in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say:
‘Assemble on the mountains of Samaria;
See great tumults in her midst,
And the [e]oppressed within her.
10 For they (F)do not know to do right,’
Says the Lord,
‘Who store up violence and [f]robbery in their palaces.’ ”

11 Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“An adversary shall be all around the land;
He shall sap your strength from you,
And your palaces shall be plundered.”

12 Thus says the Lord:

“As a shepherd [g]takes from the mouth of a lion
Two legs or a piece of an ear,
So shall the children of Israel be taken out
Who dwell in Samaria—
In the corner of a bed and [h]on the edge of a couch!
13 Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,”
Says the Lord God, the God of hosts,
14 “That in the day I punish Israel for their transgressions,
I will also visit destruction on the altars of (G)Bethel;
And the horns of the altar shall be cut off
And fall to the ground.
15 I will [i]destroy (H)the winter house along with (I)the summer house;
The (J)houses of ivory shall perish,
And the great houses shall have an end,”
Says the Lord.

#### Footnotes

1. Amos 3:4 Lit. give his voice
2. Amos 3:5 Or bait or lure
3. Amos 3:6 ram’s horn
4. Amos 3:9 So with MT; LXX Assyria
5. Amos 3:9 Or oppression
6. Amos 3:10 Or devastation
7. Amos 3:12 Or snatches
8. Amos 3:12 Heb. uncertain, possibly on the cover
9. Amos 3:15 Lit. strike

#### Cross references

1. Amos 3:2 : [Gen. 18:19; Ex. 19:5, 6; Deut. 7:6; Ps. 147:19]
2. Amos 3:2 : Jer. 14:10; Ezek. 20:36; Dan. 9:12; Matt. 11:22; [Rom. 2:9]
3. Amos 3:6 : Is. 45:7
4. Amos 3:7 : Gen. 6:13; 18:17; [Jer. 23:22]; Dan. 9:22; [John 15:15]
5. Amos 3:8 : Jer. 20:9; [Mic. 3:8]; Acts 4:20; 1 Cor. 9:16
6. Amos 3:10 : Ps. 14:4; Jer. 4:22; Amos 5:7; 6:12
7. Amos 3:14 : 2 Kin. 23:15; Hos. 10:5–8, 14, 15; Amos 4:4
8. Amos 3:15 : Jer. 36:22
9. Amos 3:15 : Judg. 3:20
10. Amos 3:15 : 1 Kin. 22:39; Ps. 45:8

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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