< Amos 8 >

1 Here, My Lord, Yahweh, gave me to see, —and lo! there was a basket of summer fruit.
Thus the Lord GOD showed me; and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 So then he said, What canst thou see, Amos? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Yahweh unto me, The end hath come unto my people Israel, I will not again any more forgive them;
And He said: 'Amos, what seest thou?' And I said: 'A basket of summer fruit.' Then said the LORD unto me: The end is come upon My people Israel; I will not again pardon them any more.
3 but palace-songs, shall become howlings, in that day, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, —Many shall be the dead bodies in every place—cast forth—[with a] hush!
And the songs of the palace shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord GOD; the dead bodies shall be many; in every place silence shall be cast.
4 Hear this, ye who pant after the needy, and to make an end of the oppressed of the land:
Hear this, O ye that would swallow the needy, and destroy the poor of the land,
5 Who say, When will the new moon, pass away, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath that we may open grain? who diminish the ephah, and increase the shekel, and who falsify by deceitful weights:
Saying: 'When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may set forth corn? making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances of deceit;
6 Who buy—for silver—the poor, and the needy for a pair of shoes, —and that the refuse of the grain we may sell.
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the corn?'
7 Sworn hath Yahweh, by the Excellency of Jacob, —Surely I will never forget any of their doings!
The LORD hath sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Is it not, for this, that the land, shall tremble? and shall mourn every inhabitant therein? Shall it not come up—like the Nile, all of it, and be tossed and subside like the river of Egypt?
Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? Yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
9 Yea it shall come to pass, in that day, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, that I will cause the sun to go in at high noon, —and will darken the earth on a day of brightness!
And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.
10 So will I turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into a dirge, and I will bring up—on all loins—sackcloth, and upon every head—baldness, —and I will make it like the mourning for an only one, even the afterpart thereof, as a day of bitterness.
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Lo! days are coming, Declareth My Lord, Yahweh, that I will send a hunger throughout the land, —not a hunger for food, nor a thirst for water, but for hearing the words of Yahweh;
Behold, the days come, saith 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.
12 Therefore shall men rove about—from sea to sea, and from the north even unto sunrise, —they shall run to and fro—seeking the word of Yahweh, but shall not find [it].
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.
13 In that day, shall the fair virgins and the choice young men faint for thirst.
In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst.
14 They who swear by the Guilt of Samaria, and say, As thy God, liveth, O Dan! and, As the Way of Beer-sheba, liveth, shall fall, and shall not rise any more.
They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say: 'As thy God, O Dan, liveth'; and: 'As the way of Beer-sheba liveth'; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

< Amos 8 >