Amos 8

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

The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit.

2 And 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.

‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. I replied, ‘A basket of ripe summer fruit.’ Then the Lord said to me: The time is ripe for my people Israel, I will no longer overlook their crimes.

3 And 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.

The singing women in the palace will howl on that day, says the Lord: Corpses everywhere, thrown out in silence.

4 Give 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,

Listen to this, you who trample on the needy, who oppress the poor of the earth,

5 Saying, 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;

saying: When will the feast of the new moon be over so that we may sell grain? And the sabbath ended so that we may offer wheat for sale? Reducing the measure and increasing the price, cheating with false scales,

6 Getting 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.

mixing the sweepings in with the wheat. Then we can buy the poor for money, the needy for a pair of shoes.

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

Now the Lord has taken an oath by the Pride of Jacob: I will never forget all their deeds!

8 Will 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.

Because of this won’t the land quake, and all its inhabitants mourn? Won’t the whole of it rise like the Nile, churn and subside like the Nile in Egypt?

9 And 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:

On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun set at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

10 Your 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.

I will turn your feasts into mourning, all your songs into dirges. I will cause you to dress in sackcloth, every head shaved. I will make you mourn like you have lost your only son, all that happens will end in bitterness.

11 See, 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.

The day is coming, says the Lord God, when I will send hunger in the land. Not a famine of bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the message of the Lord.

12 And 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.

Then they will wander from sea to sea, from the north to the east, to seek a message from the Lord, but they will not find it.

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

In that day beautiful girls and strong young men will faint from thirst.

14 Those 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.

Those who take oaths by the shameful idol of Samaria, who swear, “As surely as your God lives, O Dan!” and, “By the sacred way to Beer-sheba!” – they will fall and never rise again.