Hear the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O ye children of Israel: concerning the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying:

Audite verbum quod locutus est Dominus super vos, filii Israël, super omnem cognationem quam eduxi de terra Ægypti, dicens:

This, then, is the Lord’s message to you, men of Israel, to the whole race I rescued from Egypt:

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities.

Tantummodo vos cognovi ex omnibus cognationibus terræ; idcirco visitabo super vos omnes iniquitates vestras.

Nation is none I have claimed for my own, save you; and guilt of yours is none that shall go unpunished.

Shall two walk together except they be agreed?

Numquid ambulabunt duo pariter, nisi convenerit eis?

Tryst there must be, if friends will meet and journey together;

Will a lion roar in the forest, if he have no prey? will the lion’s whelp cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?

numquid rugiet leo in saltu, nisi habuerit prædam? numquid dabit catulus leonis vocem de cubili suo, nisi aliquid apprehenderit?

prey there must be, ere lion will roar in the forest, lion’s whelp growl in its lair;

Will the bird fall into the snare upon the earth, if there be no fowler? Shall the snare be taken up from the earth, before it hath taken somewhat?

numquid cadet avis in laqueum terræ absque aucupe? numquid auferetur laqueus de terra antequam quid ceperit?

bird is not pinned to the ground, without fowler to snare it, nor trap released without a catch made.

Shall the trumpet sound in a city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done?

si clanget tuba in civitate, et populus non expavescet? si erit malum in civitate, quod Dominus non fecerit?

Sounds trumpet in the streets, men do well to be afraid; if peril is afoot in the city, doubt not it is of the Lord’s sending.

For the Lord God doth nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.

Quia non facit Dominus Deus verbum, nisi revelaverit secretum suum ad servos suos prophetas.

Never does he act, but his servants, the prophets, are in the secret.

The lion shall roar, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who shall not prophesy?

Leo rugiet, quis non timebit? Dominus Deus locutus est, quis non prophetabit?

Roars lion, who but will tremble? Comes the divine warning, who but will prophesy?

Publish it in the houses of Azotus, and in the houses of the land of Egypt, and say: Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the many follies in the midst thereof, and them that suffer oppression in the inner rooms thereof.

Auditum facite in ædibus Azoti, et in ædibus terræ Ægypti, et dicite: Congregamini super montes Samariæ, et videte insanias multas in medio ejus, et calumniam patientes in penetralibus ejus.

Raise a cry from the house-tops, there in Azotus, there in Egypt’s land: To the hills about Samaria betake you, and look deep into the heart of her, what turbulent doings are there, what wrongs men suffer!

And they have not known to do the right thing, saith the Lord, storing up iniquity, and robberies in their houses.

Et nescierunt facere rectum, dicit Dominus, thesaurizantes iniquitatem et rapinas in ædibus suis.

In yonder palaces, the Lord says, that are store-houses of oppression and rapine, honest doing is all forgot.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: The land shall be in tribulation, and shall be compassed about: and thy strength shall be taken away from thee, and thy houses shall be spoiled.

Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Tribulabitur et circuietur terra: et detrahetur ex te fortitudo tua, et diripientur ædes tuæ.

This doom, then, the Lord God utters: Distress and siege for such a land as this! All thy fastnesses shall be dismantled, all thy palaces spoiled.

Thus saith the Lord: As if a shepherd should get out of the lion’s mouth two legs, or the tip of the ear: so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria, in a piece of a bed, and in the couch of Damascus.

Hæc dicit Dominus: Quomodo si eruat pastor de ore leonis duo crura, aut extremum auriculæ, sic eruentur filii Israël, qui habitant in Samaria in plaga lectuli, et in Damasci grabato.

Wilt thou have lion disgorge his prey? Pleased enough the shepherd, if a pair of legs he recover, a mangled ear! They shall fare no better, the Israelites that lie on a corner of the mattress at Samaria, and have their bed at Damascus.

Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord the God of hosts:

Audite, et contestamini in domo Jacob, dicit Dominus Deus exercituum;

A message for you, says the Lord, the God of hosts, a warning for the sons of Jacob!

That in the day when I shall begin to visit the transgressions of Israel, I will visit upon him, and upon the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altars shall be cut off, and shall fall to the ground.

quia in die cum visitare cœpero prævaricationes Israël, super eum visitabo, et super altaria Bethel; et amputabuntur cornua altaris, et cadent in terram.

I will have a reckoning with the rebellions of Israel, a reckoning with those altars of theirs at Bethel, that shall have the horns of them cut off and hurled to the ground;

And I will strike the winter house with the summer house: and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall be destroyed, saith the Lord.

Et percutiam domum hiemalem cum domo æstiva, et peribunt domus eburneæ, et dissipabuntur ædes multæ, dicit Dominus.

on summer dwelling of yours and winter dwelling my hand shall fall, houses of ivory and houses of the common folk; all shall lie in ruin, the Lord says.