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Listen to me, you who ·walk on helpless people [trample the needy],
    you who are trying to ·destroy [do away with] the poor people of this country, saying,
“When will the New Moon festival be over
    so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath be over
    so we can bring out wheat to sell?
We can ·give them less [L make the ephah small; C a unit of dry measure]
    and ·charge them more [L the shekel great; C a unit of money],
    and we can change the scales to cheat the people.
We will buy poor people for silver,
    and needy people for a pair of sandals [2:6].
    We will even sell the ·wheat that was swept up from the floor [L chaff of the wheat].”

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Hear this, you who [a](A)trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land, saying,

“When will the (B)new moon [b]be over,
So that we may sell grain;
And the (C)Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market,
To make the [c]ephah smaller and the [d]shekel bigger,
And to (D)cheat with dishonest scales,
So as to (E)buy the helpless for [e]money,
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

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Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:4 Or snap at
  2. Amos 8:5 Lit pass by
  3. Amos 8:5 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  4. Amos 8:5 About 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  5. Amos 8:6 Lit silver