I will destroy both the winter and summer houses. ¹  The houses filled with ivory ²  will be ruined, the great ³  houses will be swept away.” ⁴  The Lord is speaking!

Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command. ¹  He will smash the large house to bits, and the small house into little pieces.

So I will set Hazael’s house ¹  on fire; fire ²  will consume Ben Hadad’s ³  fortresses.

The Lord says this to the family ¹  of Israel: “Seek me ²  so you can live!

If ten men are left in one house, they too will die.

They stretch out on clothing seized as collateral; they do so right ¹  beside every altar! They drink wine bought with the fines they have levied; they do so right in the temple ²  of their God! ³ 

Listen and warn ¹  the family ²  of Jacob! ³  The sovereign Lord, the God who commands armies, ⁴  is speaking!

Listen to this funeral song I am ready to sing about you, ¹  family ²  of Israel:

You did not bring me ¹  sacrifices and grain offerings during the forty years you spent in the wilderness, family ²  of Israel.

Isaac’s centers of worship ¹  will become desolate; Israel’s holy places will be in ruins. I will attack Jeroboam’s dynasty with the sword.” ² 

When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses, ¹  pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “Be quiet! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!” ² 

I will break the bar ¹  on the gate of Damascus. I will remove ²  the ruler ³  from Wicked Valley, ⁴  the one who holds the royal scepter from Beth Eden. ⁵  The people of Aram will be deported to Kir.” ⁶  The Lord has spoken!

The sovereign Lord says this: “The city that marches out with a thousand soldiers ¹  will have only a hundred left; the town ²  that marches out with a hundred soldiers ³  will have only ten left for the family of Israel.” ⁴ 

Seek the Lord so you can live! Otherwise he will break out ¹  like fire against Joseph’s ²  family; ³  the fire ⁴  will consume and no one will be able to quench it and save Bethel. ⁵ 

Disaster will be inescapable, ¹  as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped ²  into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Woe ¹  to those who live in ease in Zion, ²  to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria. They think of themselves as ³  the elite class of the best nation. The family ⁴  of Israel looks to them for leadership. ⁵ 

“Look! I am about to bring ¹  a nation against you, family ²  of Israel.” The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking. “They will oppress ³  you all the way from Lebo-Hamath ⁴  to the Stream of the Arabah.” ⁵ 

Don’t prophesy at Bethel ¹  any longer, for a royal temple and palace are here!” ² 

So now listen to the Lord’s message! You say, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel! Don’t preach ¹  against the family of Isaac!’

“For look, I am giving a command and I will shake the family of Israel together with all the nations. It will resemble a sieve being shaken, when not even a pebble falls to the ground. ¹