Hear this, (A)you who trample on the needy
    and bring the poor of the land to an end,
saying, “When will (B)the new moon be over,
    that we may sell grain?
And (C)the Sabbath,
    that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (D)the ephah small and the shekel[a] great
    and deal deceitfully with false balances,
that we may buy the poor for (E)silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals
    and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

Listen to this, you who rob the poor
    and trample down the needy!
You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over
    and the religious festivals to end
    so you can get back to cheating the helpless.
You measure out grain with dishonest measures
    and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.[a]
And you mix the grain you sell
    with chaff swept from the floor.
Then you enslave poor people
    for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 8:5 Hebrew You make the ephah [a unit for measuring grain] small and the shekel [a unit of weight] great, and you deal falsely by using deceitful balances.