Amos 8
1 Thus did the Lord Eternal show unto me: and, behold, there was a basket of summer fruit.
The Lord God showed me this: 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.
‘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 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 singing women in the palace will howl on that day, says the Lord: Corpses everywhere, thrown out in silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that are greedy to swallow the needy, and to ruin 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 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 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 even sell the refuse of the corn?
mixing the sweepings in with the wheat. Then we can buy the poor for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.
7 Sworn hath the Lord by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will not forget to eternity all their works.
Now the Lord has taken an oath by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds!
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?
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 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;
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 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, 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 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:
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 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.
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 On 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 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 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.
