Amos 8
1 Thus did Jehovah shew unto me; and behold, a basket of summer-fruit.
The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer-fruit. And Jehovah said unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.
‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. I replied, ‘A basket of ripe summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me: The time is ripe for my people Israel, I will no longer overlook their crimes.
3 And the songs of the palace shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah. The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast forth. Silence!
The singing women in the palace will howl on that day, says the Lord: Corpses everywhere, thrown out in silence.
4 Hear this, ye that pant after the needy, even to cause to fail the poor of the land,
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy, who oppress the poor of the earth,
5 saying, 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 great, and falsifying the balances for deceit:
saying: When will the feast of the new moon be over so that we may sell grain? And the sabbath ended so that we may offer wheat for sale? Reducing the measure and increasing the price, cheating with false scales,
6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
mixing the sweepings in with the wheat. Then we can buy the poor for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.
7 Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob, Certainly I will never forget any of their works.
Now the Lord has taken an oath by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds!
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? And it shall wholly rise up like the Nile; and it shall surge and sink down, as the river of Egypt.
Because of this won’t the land quake, and all its inhabitants mourn? Won’t the whole of it rise like the Nile, churn and subside like the Nile in Egypt?
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the land in the clear day.
On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun set at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only [son], and the end thereof as a bitter day.
I will turn your feasts into mourning, all your songs into dirges. I will cause you to dress in sackcloth, every head shaved. I will make you mourn like you have lost your only son, all that happens will end in bitterness.
11 Behold, days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah.
The day is coming, says the Lord God, when I will send hunger in the land. Not a famine of bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the message of the Lord.
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
Then they will wander from sea to sea, from the north to the east, to seek a message from the Lord, but they will not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst;
In that day beautiful girls and strong young men will faint from thirst.
14 they that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, [As] thy god, O Dan, liveth! and, [As] the way of Beer-sheba liveth! even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
Those who take oaths by the shameful idol of Samaria, who swear, “As surely as your God lives, O Dan!” and, “By the sacred way to Beer-sheba!” – they will fall and never rise again.
