Amos 8

1 Here, My Lord, Yahweh, gave me to see, —and lo! there was a basket of summer fruit.

The Lord Jehovah showed me this vision: Behold a basket of ripe fruits!

2 So then he said, What canst thou see, Amos? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Yahweh unto me, The end hath come unto my people Israel, I will not again any more forgive them;

And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of ripe fruits. Then said Jehovah to me, The destruction of my people Israel is ripe; I will not spare them any more.

3 but palace-songs, shall become howlings, in that day, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, —Many shall be the dead bodies in every place—cast forth—[with a] hush!

The songs of the palace shall be shrieks in that day, Saith the Lord Jehovah. There shall be many dead bodies in every place, And they shall be cast forth in silence.

4 Hear this, ye who pant after the needy, and to make an end of the oppressed of the land:

Hear this, ye that pant to oppress the needy, And to destroy the poor of the land.

5 Who say, When will the new moon, pass away, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath that we may open grain? who diminish the ephah, and increase the shekel, and who falsify by deceitful weights:

That say, 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 heavy, And falsifying the balances for deceit,

6 Who buy—for silver—the poor, and the needy for a pair of shoes, —and that the refuse of the grain we may sell.

That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of shoes, And sell the refuse of the wheat?

7 Sworn hath Yahweh, by the Excellency of Jacob, —Surely I will never forget any of their doings!

Jehovah hath sworn by the glory of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

8 Is it not, for this, that the land, shall tremble? and shall mourn every inhabitant therein? Shall it not come up—like the Nile, all of it, and be tossed and subside like the river of Egypt?

Shall not the land tremble for this, And shall not all that dwell therein mourn? Shall not all of it rise in waves like a river, And be swept from its place, and overflowed, as by the river of Egypt!

9 Yea it shall come to pass, in that day, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, that I will cause the sun to go in at high noon, —and will darken the earth on a day of brightness!

It shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will cause the sun to go down at noon, And will darken the land in the clear day.

10 So will I turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into a dirge, and I will bring up—on all loins—sackcloth, and upon every head—baldness, —and I will make it like the mourning for an only one, even the afterpart thereof, as a day of bitterness.

I will turn your feasts into mourning, And all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, And baldness upon all heads. I will fill the land with mourning, as for an only son, And its end shall be as a day of bitter woe.

11 Lo! days are coming, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, that I will send a hunger throughout the land, —not a hunger for food, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Yahweh;

Behold, the time cometh, saith the Lord Jehovah, That I will send a famine upon the land; Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the word of Jehovah.

12 Therefore shall men rove about—from sea to sea, and from the north even unto sunrise, —they shall run to and fro—seeking the word of Yahweh, but shall not find [it].

And men shall wander from sea to sea, And from the north even to the east shall they run to and fro, To seek an answer from Jehovah, and shall not find it.

13 In that day, shall the fair virgins and the choice young men faint for thirst.

In that day shall the fair virgins, and the young men, faint for thirst,

14 They who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, As thy God, liveth, O Dan! and, As the Way of Beer-sheba, liveth, shall fall, and shall not rise any more.

Who swear by the sin of Samaria, And say, By the life of thy God, O Dan! And, By the worship of Beersheba! They shall fall, and shall rise no more!