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A Famine for Hearing the Words of Yahweh

Thus Lord Yahweh showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And (A)I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The (B)end has come for My people Israel. I will (C)pass over them no longer. And they will (D)wail with the (E)songs of the palace in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh. “Many will be the (F)corpses; in every place [a]they will cast them forth [b]in silence.”

Hear this, you who [c](G)trample the needy, even to cause the humble of the land to cease, saying,

“When will the (H)new moon pass over,
So that we may sell grain,
And the (I)sabbath, that we may open the wheat market,
To make the [d]bushel smaller and the [e]shekel bigger,
And to (J)cheat with a deceptive balance,
So as to (K)buy the poor for [f]money
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

Yahweh has (L)sworn by the (M)lofty pride of Jacob,
“Indeed, I will (N)never forget any of their works.
Because of this will not the land (O)tremble
And everyone who inhabits it (P)mourn?
Indeed, all of it will (Q)rise up like the Nile,
And it will be tossed about
And subside like the Nile of Egypt.
And it will be in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh,
“That I will make the (R)sun go down at noon
And (S)make the earth dark in [g]broad daylight.
10 Then I will (T)overturn your feasts into mourning
And all your songs into [h]lamentation;
And I will bring up (U)sackcloth on everyone’s loins
And baldness on every head.
And I will make it (V)like a time of mourning for an only son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Lord Yahweh,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather (W)for hearing the words of Yahweh.
12 People will wander from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to (X)seek the word of Yahweh,
But they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful (Y)virgins
And the choice men will (Z)faint from thirst.
14 As for those who swear by the [i](AA)guilt of Samaria,
Who say, ‘As your god lives, O (AB)Dan,’
And, ‘As the way of (AC)Beersheba lives,’
They will fall and (AD)not rise again.”

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:3 Lit he has thrown
  2. Amos 8:3 Or —hush!
  3. Amos 8:4 Or snap at
  4. Amos 8:5 Lit ephah
  5. Amos 8:5 A shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  6. Amos 8:6 Lit silver
  7. Amos 8:9 Lit a day of light
  8. Amos 8:10 Or a dirge
  9. Amos 8:14 Or Ashimah

Fourth Vision: A Basket of Summer Fruit

The Lord God showed me this: A basket of summer fruit. 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) 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)

Hear this, you who trample on the needy(I)
and do away with the poor of the land,(J)
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)
We can buy the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals(N)
and even sell the chaff!”

The Lord has sworn(O) by the Pride of Jacob:[c](P)

I will never forget all their deeds.(Q)
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)

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)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:3 Or palace
  2. Amos 8:5 Lit reduce the ephah and make the shekel great
  3. Amos 8:7 = the Lord or the promised land
  4. Amos 8:10 Lit every loin
  5. Amos 8:14 LXX reads god
  6. Amos 8:14 Or power