31 Listen to this, Israel. God is calling you to account - and I mean all of you, everyone connected with the family that he delivered out of Egypt. Listen! 2 "Out of all the families on earth, I picked you. Therefore, because of your special calling, I'm holding you responsible for all your sins." 3 Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren't going to the same place? 4 Does a lion roar in the forest if there's no carcass to devour? Does a young lion growl with pleasure if he hasn't caught his supper? 5 Does a bird fall to the ground if it hasn't been hit with a stone? Does a trap spring shut if nothing trips it? 6 When the alarm goes off in the city, aren't people alarmed? And when disaster strikes the city, doesn't God stand behind it? 7 The fact is, God, the Master, does nothing without first telling his prophets the whole story. 8 The lion has roared - who isn't frightened? God has spoken - what prophet can keep quiet?
9 Announce to the forts of Assyria, announce to the forts of Egypt - Tell them, "Gather on the Samaritan mountains, take a good, hard look: what a snake pit of brutality and terror! 10 They can't - or won't - do one thing right." God said so. "They stockpile violence and blight. 11 Therefore" - this is God's Word - "an enemy will surround the country. He'll strip you of your power and plunder your forts." 12 God's Message: "In the same way that a shepherd trying to save a lamb from a lion Manages to recover just a pair of legs or the scrap of an ear, So will little be saved of the Israelites who live in Samaria - A couple of old chairs at most, the broken leg of a table. 13 "Listen and bring witness against Jacob's family" - this is God's Word, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! 14 "Note well! The day I make Israel pay for its sins, pay for the sin-altars of worship at Bethel, The horned altars will all be dehorned and scattered around. 15 I'll tear down the winter palace, smash the summer palace - all your fancy buildings. The luxury homes will be demolished, all those pretentious houses." God's Decree.
