Amos 8
Chapter 8
A Vision of Ripe Fruit
1 Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit.
2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.”
Then the LORD said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again.
3 In that day the singing in the Temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”
4 Listen to this, you who rob the poor
and trample down the needy!5 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.t6 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.7 Now the LORD has sworn this oath
by his own name, the Pride of Israelt:
“I will never forget
the wicked things you have done!8 The earth will tremble for your deeds,
and everyone will mourn.
The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime;
it will heave up, then sink again.9 “In that day,” says the Sovereign LORD,
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth while it is still day.10 I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning
and your singing into weeping.
You will wear funeral clothes
and shave your heads to show your sorrow—
as if your only son had died.
How very bitter that day will be!11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign LORD,
“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 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from border to bordert
searching for the word of the LORD,
but they will not find it.13 Beautiful girls and strong young men
will grow faint in that day,
thirsting for the LORD’s word.14 And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—
who take oaths in the name of the god of Dan
and make vows in the name of the god of Beershebat—
they will all fall down,
never to rise again.”
AMOS 8
A Basket of Fruit
1 The [Lord] God showed me a basket of ripe fruit
2 and asked, “Amos, what do you see?”
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I replied.
Then he said,
“This is the endt
for my people Israel.
I won't forgive them again.
3 Instead of singing
in the temple,
they will cry and weep.
Dead bodies will be everywhere.
So keep silent!
I, the [Lord], have spoken!”Israel Is Doomed
The [Lord] said:
4 You people crush those in need
and wipe out the poor.
5 You say to yourselves,
“How much longer before the end
of the New Moon Festival?
When will the Sabbatht be over?
Our wheat is ready,
and we want to sell it now.
We can't wait to cheat
and charge high prices
for the grain we sell.
We will use dishonest scales
6 and mix dust in the grain.
Those who are needy and poor
don't have any money.
We will make them our slaves
for the price
of a pair of sandals.”
7 I, the [Lord], won't forget
any of this,
though you take great pride
in your ancestor Jacob.t
8 Your country will tremble,
and you will mourn.
It will be like the Nile River
that rises and overflows,
then sinks back down.
9 On that day, I, the [Lord] God,
will make the sun
go down at noon,
and I will turn daylight
into darkness.
10 Your festivals and joyful singing
will turn into sorrow.
You will wear sackclotht
and shave your heads,
as you would at the death
of your only son.
It will be a horrible day.
11 I, the [Lord], also promise you
a terrible shortage,
but not of food and water.
You will hunger and thirst
to hear my message.
12 You will search everywhere—
from north to south,
from east to west.
You will go all over the earth,
seeking a message
from me, the [Lord].
But you won't find one.
13 Your beautiful young women
and your young men
will faint from thirst.
14 You made promises
to the goddess Ashimah
at Samaria;
you made vows to other gods
at the shrines
of Dan and Beersheba.t
So now you will fall
and never get up.
