Amos 8

1 This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw a basket of summer fruit.

The Lord Jehovah showed me this vision: Behold a basket of ripe fruits!

2 And he said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, The end has come to my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin.

And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of ripe fruits. Then said Jehovah to me, The destruction of my people Israel is ripe; I will not spare them any more.

3 And the songs of the king's house will be cries of pain in that day, says the Lord God: great will be the number of the dead bodies, and everywhere they will put them out without a word.

The songs of the palace shall be shrieks in that day, Saith the Lord Jehovah. There shall be many dead bodies in every place, And they shall be cast forth in silence.

4 Give ear to this, you who are crushing the poor, and whose purpose is to put an end to those who are in need in the land,

Hear this, ye that pant to oppress the needy, And to destroy the poor of the land.

5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;

That say, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn, And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, Making the ephah small, and the shekel heavy, And falsifying the balances for deceit,

6 Getting the poor for silver, and him who is in need for the price of two shoes, and taking a price for the waste parts of the grain.

That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes, And sell the refuse of the wheat?

7 The Lord has taken an oath by the pride of Jacob, Truly I will ever keep in mind all their works.

Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

8 Will not the land be shaking with fear because of this, and everyone in it have sorrow? and all of it will be overflowing like the River; and it will be troubled and go down again like the River of Egypt.

Shall not the land tremble for this, And shall not all that dwell therein mourn? Shall not all of it rise in waves like a river, And be swept from its place, and overflowed, as by the river of Egypt!

9 And it will come about in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down in the middle of the day, and I will make the earth dark in daylight:

It shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will cause the sun to go down at noon, And will darken the land in the clear day.

10 Your feasts will be turned into sorrow and all your melody into songs of grief; everyone will be clothed with haircloth, and the hair of every head will be cut; I will make the weeping like that for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, And baldness upon all heads. I will fill the land with mourning, as for an only son, And its end shall be as a day of bitter woe.

11 See, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send times of great need on the land, not need of food or desire for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.

Behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will send a famine upon the land; Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the word of Jehovah.

12 And they will go wandering from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, running here and there in search of the word of the Lord, and they will not get it.

And men shall wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east shall they run to and fro, To seek an answer from Jehovah, and shall not find it.

13 In that day the fair virgins and the young men will be feeble from need of water.

In that day shall the fair virgins, and the young men, faint for thirst,

14 Those who make their oaths by the sin of Samaria and say, By the life of your God, O Dan; and, By the living way of Beer-sheba; even they will go down, never again to be lifted up.

Who swear by the sin of Samaria, And say, By the life of thy God, O Dan! And, By the worship of Beersheba! They shall fall, and shall rise no more!