Amos 8

1 Thus did the Lord Eternal show unto me: and, behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.

This is what the LORD showed me: And look, a basket of summer fruit.

2 And he said, What dost thou see, 'Amos? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come for my people Israel: I will not farther indulge them any more.

He said, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.

3 And the songs of the temple shall become a wailing on that day, saith the Lord Eternal: many shall be the dead bodies; in every place shall men throw them down, [saying, ] Be silent.

The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the LORD. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.

4 Hear this, O ye that are greedy to swallow the needy, and to ruin the poor of the land,

Hear this, you who trample the needy, and destroy the poor of the land,

5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell provision? and the sabbath, that we may open the corn-warehouses, making the ephah small, and increasing the shekel, and cheating with deceitful balances?

saying, 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;

6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and even sell the refuse of the corn?

that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?'"

7 Sworn hath the Lord by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will not forget to eternity all their works.

The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works.

8 Shall because of this the land not tremble, and mourn every one that dwelleth therein? and shall it not rise up like a stream wholly, and roll onward and sink again like the stream of Egypt?

Won't the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.

9 And it shall come to pass on that day, saith the Lord Eternal, that I will cause the sun to set at noon, and I will bring darkness over the earth on a bright day;

It will happen in that day," says the LORD, "that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

10 And I will change your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations; and I will bring upon all loins sackcloth, and upon every head baldness; and I will cause [the land] to mourn as one doth for an only son, and its end to be as a day of bitter [complaint].

I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.

11 Behold, days are coming, saith the Lord Eternal, when I will send a famine in the land, not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of the Lord:

Look, the days come," says the LORD, "that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the LORD.

12 And they will wander about from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they will roam about to seek the word of the Lord; but they shall not find it.

They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of the LORD, and will not find it.

13 On that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst;

In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst.

14 Those that swear by the guilt of Samaria, and say, As thy god liveth, O Dan; and, As liveth the worshipped idol of Beer-sheba', —yea, they shall fall, and never rise up again.

Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'As your god, Dan, lives;' and, 'As the way of Beersheba lives;' they will fall, and never rise up again."