Amos 8

1 And behold a fowler's basket.

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

2 And he said, What see you, Amos? And I said, A fowler's basket. And the Lord said to me, The end is come upon my people Israel; I will not pass by them any more.

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.

3 And the ceilings of the temple shall howl in that day, says the Lord God: [there shall be] many a fallen one in every place; I will bring silence upon [them].

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.

4 Hear now this, you that oppress the poor in the morning, and drive the needy ones by tyranny from the earth,

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,

5 saying, When will the month pass away, and we shall sell, and the sabbath, and we shall open the treasure, to make the measure small, and to enlarge the weight, and make the balance unfair?

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;

6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for shoes; and we will trade in every kind of fruit.

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.

7 The Lord swears against the pride of Jacob, None of your works shall ever be forgotten.

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

8 And shall not the land be troubled for these things, and shall not every one who dwells in it mourn? whereas destruction shall come up as a river, and shall descend as the river of Egypt.

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.

9 And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord God, [that] the sun shall go down at noon, and the light shall be darkened on the earth by day:

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:

10 and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; and I will make them as the mourning of a beloved [friend], and those with them as a day of grief.

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.

11 Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will send forth a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.

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.

12 And the waters shall be troubled from sea to sea, and from the north to the east shall [men] run hither and there, seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find [it].

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.

13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst;

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

14 they who swear by the propitiation of Samaria, and who say, Your god, O Dan, lives; and, Your god, O Bersabee, lives; and they shall fall, and shall no more rise again.

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.