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.”
Amos 8
King James Version
8 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, 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 great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:
12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.
13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
Amos 8
English Standard Version
The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning
8 (A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, (B)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, (C)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,
(D)“The end[a] has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
3 (E)The songs of the temple[b] (F)shall become wailings[c] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
(G)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
(H)“Silence!”
4 Hear this, (I)you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will (J)the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And (K)the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (L)the ephah small and the shekel[d] great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for (M)silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by (N)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (O)I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 (P)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
(Q)and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about (R)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
(S)“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 (T)I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
(U)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
(V)and baldness on every head;
(W)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when (X)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
(Y)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 (Z)They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
(AA)but they shall not find it.
Amos 8
Living Bible
8 Then the Lord God showed me, in a vision, a basket full of ripe fruit.
2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.”
Then the Lord said, “This fruit represents my people Israel—ripe for punishment. I will not defer their punishment again. 3 The riotous sound of singing in the Temple will turn to weeping then. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence.” The Lord has spoken.
4 Listen, you merchants who rob the poor, trampling on the needy; 5 you who long for the Sabbath to end and the religious holidays to be over so you can get out and start cheating again—using your weighted scales and under-sized measures; 6 you who make slaves of the poor, buying them for their debt of a piece of silver or a pair of shoes, or selling them your moldy wheat:
7 The Lord, the Pride of Israel, has sworn: “I won’t forget your deeds! 8 The land will tremble as it awaits its doom, and everyone will mourn. It will rise up like the river Nile at floodtime, toss about, and sink again. 9 At that time I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in the daytime. 10 And I will turn your parties into times of mourning, and your songs of joy will be turned to cries of despair. You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads as signs of sorrow, as if your only son had died; bitter, bitter will be that day.
11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 Men will wander everywhere from sea to sea, seeking the word of the Lord, searching, running here and going there, but will not find it. 13 Beautiful girls and fine young men alike will grow faint and weary, thirsting for the word of God. 14 And those who worship the idols of Samaria, Dan, and Beersheba shall fall and never rise again.”
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