Amos 8
1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed vnto me, and behold, a basket of summer fruite.
The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I sayd, A basket of sommer fruite. Then sayd the Lord vnto me, The ende is come vpon my people of Israel, I wil passe by them no 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 Temple shalbe howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: many dead bodies shalbe in euery place: they shall cast them forth with silence.
The singing women in the palace will howl on that day, says the Lord: Corpses everywhere, thrown out in silence.
4 Heare this, O yee that swallowe vp the poore, that ye may make the needie of the lande to fayle,
Listen to this, you who trample on the needy, who oppress the poor of the earth,
5 Saying, When will the newe moneth bee gone, that we may sell corne? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheate, and make the Ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifie the weights by 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 poore for siluer, and the needie for shooes: yea, and sell the refuse of the wheate.
mixing the sweepings in with the wheat. Then we can buy the poor for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.
7 The Lord hath sworne by the excellencie of Iaakob, Surely I will neuer forget any of their workes.
Now the Lord has taken an oath by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds!
8 Shall not the lande tremble for this, and euery one mourne, that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise vp wholy as a flood, and it shall bee cast out, and drowned as by the flood 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 in that day, saith the Lord God, I will euen cause the sunne to go downe at noone: and I will darken the earth in the cleare 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 turne your feastes into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation: and I will bring sackcloth vpon all loynes, and baldnes vpon euery head: and I will make it as the mourning of an onely sonne, and the ende 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 Beholde, the dayes come, sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the lande, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.
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 euen vnto the East shall they run to and from to seeke the worde of the Lord, and shall not finde 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 faire virgines and the yong men perish for thirst.
In that day beautiful girls and strong young men will faint from thirst.
14 They that sweare by the sinne of Samaria, and that say, Thy God, O Dan, liueth, and the maner of Beer-sheba liueth, euen they shall fall, and neuer rise vp againe.
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.
