Amos 8
Holman 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.”(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[a] 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[b]
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:[c](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[d] 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 Hear this! 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[e][f] of Beer-sheba lives”(AI)—
they will fall, never to rise again.(AJ)
Amos 8
International Standard Version
The Vision of a Fruit Basket
8 This is what the Lord God showed me: Look! A basket of summer fruit! 2 And he was asking, “What do you see, Amos?”
I answered, “A basket of summer fruit.”
Then the Lord told me,
“The end[a] approaches for my people Israel.
I will no longer spare them.[b]
3 At that time,”
declares the Lord God,
“the temple songs will be wailing.
Many bodies will accumulate everywhere.
4 “Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy,
who intend to make the poor of the land fail,
5 and who are saying,
‘When will the New Moon fade
so we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath conclude[c]
so we may market winnowed wheat?—
shortchanging the measure,[d]
raising the price,
falsifying the scales by treachery,
6 buying the poor for cash,[e]
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling chaff mixed in with the wheat.’
7 “The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
I will never forget anything they have done.
8 Surely the land will tremble because of this, won’t it?
And all who live in it will mourn, won’t they?
The entire land will swell up like a flooded[f] river.
It will be stirred up and then will sink
like the river of Egypt.
9 It will come about at that time,” declares the Lord God,
“I will cause the sun to set at noon
and the earth to darken in the daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning,
and all of your songs to dirges.
I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth
and to shave all of your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son,
and its conclusion will be like the end of[g] a bitter day.”
A Famine of the Word of God
11 “Look! The days are coming,”
declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine throughout the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water—
but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People[h] will stagger from sea to sea,
from north to east.
They will run back and forth,
searching for a message from the Lord,
but they won’t find it.
13 At that time,
the beautiful virgins will faint,
as will the strong young men—from thirst.
14 Those who have been swearing oaths by the sin of Samaria,
or who say, ‘As your god lives, Dan…’
or who say, ‘As the way of Beer-sheba lives…’—
will fall, and will never rise again.”
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.
