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12 Thus says the Lord:
As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion
    a pair of sheep’s legs or the tip of an ear,
So shall the Israelites escape,
    those who dwell in Samaria,
With the corner of a couch
    or a piece of a cot.[a]

13 Hear and bear witness against the house of Jacob—
    an oracle of the Lord God, the God of hosts:
14 On the day when I punish Israel for its crimes,
    I will also punish the altars of Bethel;
The horns of the altar shall be broken off
    and fall to the ground.[b](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 3:12 The “escape” is clearly a disaster, not a deliverance.
  2. 3:14 On Bethel, see also 4:4; 5:5–6; and 7:13. The prophet is condemning the religiosity and formalism of the worship by Israel’s leaders.