Cause and Effect: When God Warns, the Prophet Is Compelled to Deliver the Warning
Amos 3:1–8
Biblical Period
1Hear this word, O people of Israel,
That the Lord has spoken concerning you,
Concerning the whole family that I brought up from the land of Egypt:
2You alone have I singled out
Of all the families of the earth—
That is why I will call you to account
For all your iniquities.
3Can two walk together
Without having met?
4Does a lion roar in the forest
When he has no prey?
Does a great beast let out a cry from its den
Without having made a capture?
5Does a bird drop on the ground—in a trap—
With no snare there?
Does a trap spring up from the ground
Unless it has caught something?
6When a ram’s horn is sounded in a town,
Do the people not take alarm?
Can misfortune come to a town
If the Lord has not caused it?
7Indeed, my Lord God does nothing
Without having revealed His purpose
To His servants the prophets.
8A lion has roared,
Who can but fear?
My Lord God has spoken,
Who can but prophesy?
Credits
Reprinted from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures by permission of the University of Nebraska Press. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.
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Prophets
When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the abhorrent practices of those nations. Let no one be found among you who consigns his son or daughter…
Shtetl
A visitor came to the shtetl,
A stranger, with unrest in his step . . .
No-one recognized his unrest. No-one asked him:
“Stranger, are you weary?”
Across the blue sky the evening drew its curtain…
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Alas!
Lonely sits the city
Once great with people!
She that was great among nations
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