# the house of Jacob

The word "house" is a metonym for the family that lives in the house. In this case it refers to Jacob's descendants. They were the people of Israel. AT: "the descendants of Jacob" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# this is the declaration of the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated the similar phrase "this is Yahweh's declaration" in [Amos 2:11](../02/11.md). AT: "this is what the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts, has declared" or "this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, the God of hosts, have declared" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-123person]])

# in the day that I punish the sins of Israel

"when I punish the sins of Israel"

# I will also punish the altars of Bethel

People sinned against God by worshiping false gods at their altars. Here "punish the altars" represents punishing the people by destroying their altars. AT: "I will also destroy the altars at Bethel" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# The horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Your enemies will cut off the horns of the altars, and the horns will fall to the ground" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# horns of the altar

People worshiped false gods at their altars. At the top corners of the altars there were pieces of metal shaped like bull horns. These horns were a symbol of the strength of their gods.

# translationWords

* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/testimony]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/house]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/names/jacob]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lordyahweh]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/yahwehofhosts]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/punish]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/altar]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/names/bethel]]
* [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/cutoff]]