Amos 8

1 Thus has Lord YHWH showed me, and behold, a basket of summer-fruit.

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

2 And He says, “What are you seeing, Amos?” And I say, “A basket of summer-fruit.” And YHWH says to me: “The end has come to My people Israel, I no longer pass over to it anymore.

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.

3 And female singers have howled of a palace in that day,” A declaration of Lord YHWH, “Many [are] the carcasses, into any place throw—hush!”

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.

4 Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy, To cause the poor of the land to cease,

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

5 Saying, “When does the new moon pass, And we sell ground grain? And the Sabbath, and we open out pure grain? To make little the ephah, And to make great the shekel, And to use balances of deceit perversely.

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?

6 To purchase the poor with money, And the needy for a pair of sandals, Indeed, the refuse of the pure grain we sell.”

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

7 YHWH has sworn by the excellence of Jacob: “I do not forget any of their works forever.

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

8 Does the land not tremble for this, And every dweller in it has mourned? And all of it has come up as a flood. And it has been cast out, and has sunk, Like the flood of Egypt.

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?

9 And it has come to pass in that day,” A declaration of Lord YHWH, “I have caused the sun to go in at noon, And caused darkness on the land in a day of light,

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;

10 And have turned your festivals to mourning, And all your songs to lamentation, And caused sackcloth to come up on all loins, And on every head—baldness, And made it as a mourning of an only one, And its latter end as a day of bitterness.

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].

11 Behold, days are coming,” A declaration of Lord YHWH, “And I have sent a famine into the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, But of hearing the words of YHWH.

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:

12 And they have wandered from sea to sea, And from north even to east, They go to and fro to seek the word of YHWH, And they do not find [it].

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.

13 In that day the beautiful virgins, And the young men, faint with thirst.

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

14 Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And who have said, Your god lives, O Dan, And, The way of Beer-Sheba lives, Indeed, they have fallen and do not rise again!”

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.