Amos 8
Christian Standard Bible
Fourth Vision: A Basket of Summer Fruit
8 The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” (A)
I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.”[a](B)
The Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel;(C) I will no longer spare them.(D) 3 In that day the temple[b] songs(E) will become wailing”(F)—this is the Lord God’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!(G) Silence!” (H)
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy(I)
and do away with the poor of the land,(J)
5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over
so we may sell grain,(K)
and the Sabbath,
so we may market wheat?(L)
We can reduce the measure
while increasing the price[c]
and cheat with dishonest scales.(M)
6 We can buy the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals(N)
and even sell the chaff!”
7 The Lord has sworn(O) by the Pride of Jacob:[d](P)
I will never forget all their deeds.(Q)
8 Because of this, won’t the land quake(R)
and all who dwell in it mourn?(S)
All of it will rise like the Nile;(T)
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.(U)
9 And in that day—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
I will make the sun go down at noon;(V)
I will darken the land in the daytime.(W)
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning(X)
and all your songs into lamentation;(Y)
I will cause everyone[e] to wear sackcloth(Z)
and every head to be shaved.(AA)
I will make that grief
like mourning for an only son(AB)
and its outcome like a bitter day.
11 Look, the days are coming—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.(AC)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and roam from north to east
seeking the word of the Lord,(AD)
but they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful young women,(AE)
the young men also, will faint from thirst.(AF)
14 Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria(AG)
and say, “As your god lives, Dan,”(AH)
or, “As the way[f][g] of Beer-sheba lives”(AI)—
they will fall, never to rise again.(AJ)
Amos 8
New Life Version
Special Dream of a Basket of Fruit
8 This is what the Lord God showed me: There was a basket of summer fruit. 2 And the Lord said, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will not change My mind again about punishing them. 3 The songs of the king’s house will become loud cries of sorrow on that day,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies. In every place they will be thrown out without a word.”
4 Hear this, you who crush under foot those who are in need, to put an end to the poor of the land. 5 You say, “When will the New Moon be over, so that we may buy grain? When will the Day of Rest be over, so that we may open the store and sell grain? Then we will make the basket smaller and the weight bigger, and we will lie about the weight. 6 We will buy the poor for money, and those in need for shoes. And we will sell the part of the grain that is of no worth.”
7 The Lord has promised by the pride of Jacob, “For sure I will never forget anything they have done. 8 Will not the land shake because of this? Will not everyone who lives in it be filled with sorrow? All of it will rise up like the Nile. It will be troubled, and will fall like the Nile River of Egypt. 9 On that day,” says the Lord God, “I will make the sun go down at noon. I will make the earth dark in the daytime. 10 I will turn your special suppers into times of sorrow, and all your songs into songs of sorrow. I will make all of you wear cloth made from hair, and cut all the hair from your heads. I will fill that time with sorrow, as if an only son had died. And the end of it will be like a bitter day.
11 “The days are coming,” says the Lord God, “when I will send a time upon the land when the people will be very hungry. They will not be hungry for bread or thirsty for water, but they will be hungry to hear the Words of the Lord. 12 People will go from sea to sea, and from the north to the east. They will go from place to place to look for the Word of the Lord, but they will not find it. 13 On that day the beautiful, pure, young women and the young men will lose their strength and fall because of thirst. 14 As for those who swear by the false gods of Samaria, saying, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’ and ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’ they will fall and never rise again.”
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