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Basket of Fruit

This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of summer fruit. He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then the Lord said to me, “The end has come upon My people Israel. I will forgive them no more.

“The songs of the temple shall become wailings on that day,” says the Lord God. “The corpses shall be many, cast down everywhere. Hush!”

Against the Greedy

Hear this, you who trample on the needy
    to make the poor of the land fail,

saying,

“When will the New Moon be over,
    so that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath,
    that we may open the wheat sales,
making the ephah[a] too small,
    and the shekel[b] too heavy,
    cheating with dishonest scales,
that we may buy the poor for silver,
    the needy for a pair of sandals,
    and sell the refuse as wheat?”

The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Will not the land tremble because of this,
    and everyone mourn who lives on it?
It will all rise up like the Nile,
    and be tossed around, then sink
    like the Nile of Egypt.

On that day, says the Lord God,

I will make the sun go down at noon,
    and darken the earth in mid-daylight;
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning,
    and all your songs into dirges;
I will put sackcloth upon all loins,
    and baldness on every head;
I will make it like the mourning for an only child,
    and its end like a bitter day.

11 The time is coming, says the Lord God,
    when I will send a famine on the land,
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
    but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 They will wander from sea to sea,
    and from north to east;
they will run back and forth to seek the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.

13 On that day

the beautiful maidens and the young men
    will faint with thirst.
14 Those who swear by Ashimah of Samaria, and say,
    “By the life of your god, O Dan,”
    and, “By the life of the way of Beersheba”—
they shall fall
    and never rise again.

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:5 A dry measure of about ⅗ bushel, or 22 liters.
  2. Amos 8:5 About ⅖ ounce, or 12 grams.

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(A) a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see,(B) Amos?(C)” he asked.

“A basket(D) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(E)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a](F) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!(G)

Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(H) of the land,(I)

saying,

“When will the New Moon(J) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market(K) wheat?”(L)
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating(M) with dishonest scales,(N)
buying the poor(O) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(P)

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(Q) “I will never forget(R) anything they have done.(S)

“Will not the land tremble(T) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.(U)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.(V)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(W) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.(X)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(Y)
    and shave(Z) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(AA)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.(AB)

11 “The days are coming,”(AC) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine(AD) of hearing the words of the Lord.(AE)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.(AF)

13 “In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men(AG)
    will faint because of thirst.(AH)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(AI)
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’(AJ)
    or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba(AK) lives’—
    they will fall,(AL) never to rise again.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
  2. Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way