Amos 8

¹This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw a basket of summer fruit.

²And 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 to my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin.

³And the songs of the king's house will be cries of pain in that day, says the Lord God: great will be the number of the dead bodies, and everywhere they will put them out without a word.

⁴Give ear to this, you who are crushing the poor, and whose purpose is to put an end to those who are in need in the land,

⁵Saying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit;

⁶Getting the poor for silver, and him who is in need for the price of two shoes, and taking a price for the waste parts of the grain.

⁷The Lord has taken an oath by the pride of Jacob, Truly I will ever keep in mind all their works.

⁸Will not the land be shaking with fear because of this, and everyone in it have sorrow? and all of it will be overflowing like the River; and it will be troubled and go down again like the River of Egypt.

⁹And it will come about in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down in the middle of the day, and I will make the earth dark in daylight:

¹⁰Your feasts will be turned into sorrow and all your melody into songs of grief; everyone will be clothed with haircloth, and the hair of every head will be cut; I will make the weeping like that for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.

¹¹See, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send times of great need on the land, not need of food or desire for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord.

¹²And they will go wandering from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, running here and there in search of the word of the Lord, and they will not get it.

¹³In that day the fair virgins and the young men will be feeble from need of water.

¹⁴Those who make their oaths by the sin of Samaria and say, By the life of your God, O Dan; and, By the living way of Beer-sheba; even they will go down, never again to be lifted up.

Amos 8

¹Thus the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.

²He said, "Amos, what do you see?" I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the Lord said to me, "The end has come on my people Israel. I will not again pass by them any more.

³The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day," says the Lord God. "The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.

⁴Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,

⁵Saying, 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;

⁶that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?'"

⁷The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, "Surely I will never forget any of their works.

⁸Won't the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.

⁹It will happen in that day," says the Lord God, "that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

¹⁰I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.

¹¹Behold, the days come," says 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.

¹²They will wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they will run back and forth to seek the word of the Lord, and will not find it.

¹³In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men will faint for thirst.

¹⁴Those who swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, 'As your god, Dan, lives;' and, 'As the way of Beersheba lives;' they will fall, and never rise up again."