Add parallel Print Page Options

A Famine for Hearing the Words of Yahweh

Thus Lord Yahweh showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And (A)I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then Yahweh said to me, “The (B)end has come for My people Israel. I will (C)pass over them no longer. And they will (D)wail with the (E)songs of the palace in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh. “Many will be the (F)corpses; in every place [a]they will cast them forth [b]in silence.”

Hear this, you who [c](G)trample the needy, even to cause the humble of the land to cease, saying,

“When will the (H)new moon pass over,
So that we may sell grain,
And the (I)sabbath, that we may open the wheat market,
To make the [d]bushel smaller and the [e]shekel bigger,
And to (J)cheat with a deceptive balance,
So as to (K)buy the poor for [f]money
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

Yahweh has (L)sworn by the (M)lofty pride of Jacob,
“Indeed, I will (N)never forget any of their works.
Because of this will not the land (O)tremble
And everyone who inhabits it (P)mourn?
Indeed, all of it will (Q)rise up like the Nile,
And it will be tossed about
And subside like the Nile of Egypt.
And it will be in that day,” declares Lord Yahweh,
“That I will make the (R)sun go down at noon
And (S)make the earth dark in [g]broad daylight.
10 Then I will (T)overturn your feasts into mourning
And all your songs into [h]lamentation;
And I will bring up (U)sackcloth on everyone’s loins
And baldness on every head.
And I will make it (V)like a time of mourning for an only son,
And the end of it will be like a bitter day.

11 “Behold, days are coming,” declares Lord Yahweh,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather (W)for hearing the words of Yahweh.
12 People will wander from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to (X)seek the word of Yahweh,
But they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful (Y)virgins
And the choice men will (Z)faint from thirst.
14 As for those who swear by the [i](AA)guilt of Samaria,
Who say, ‘As your god lives, O (AB)Dan,’
And, ‘As the way of (AC)Beersheba lives,’
They will fall and (AD)not rise again.”

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:3 Lit he has thrown
  2. Amos 8:3 Or —hush!
  3. Amos 8:4 Or snap at
  4. Amos 8:5 Lit ephah
  5. Amos 8:5 A shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  6. Amos 8:6 Lit silver
  7. Amos 8:9 Lit a day of light
  8. Amos 8:10 Or a dirge
  9. Amos 8:14 Or Ashimah

A Basket of Ripe Fruit

This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(A) a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see,(B) Amos?(C)” he asked.

“A basket(D) of ripe fruit,” I answered.

Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.(E)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing.[a](F) Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!(G)

Hear this, you who trample the needy
    and do away with the poor(H) of the land,(I)

saying,

“When will the New Moon(J) be over
    that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath be ended
    that we may market(K) wheat?”(L)
skimping on the measure,
    boosting the price
    and cheating(M) with dishonest scales,(N)
buying the poor(O) with silver
    and the needy for a pair of sandals,
    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(P)

The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(Q) “I will never forget(R) anything they have done.(S)

“Will not the land tremble(T) for this,
    and all who live in it mourn?
The whole land will rise like the Nile;
    it will be stirred up and then sink
    like the river of Egypt.(U)

“In that day,” declares the Sovereign Lord,

“I will make the sun go down at noon
    and darken the earth in broad daylight.(V)
10 I will turn your religious festivals(W) into mourning
    and all your singing into weeping.(X)
I will make all of you wear sackcloth(Y)
    and shave(Z) your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son(AA)
    and the end of it like a bitter day.(AB)

11 “The days are coming,”(AC) declares the Sovereign Lord,
    “when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
    but a famine(AD) of hearing the words of the Lord.(AE)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
    and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
    but they will not find it.(AF)

13 “In that day

“the lovely young women and strong young men(AG)
    will faint because of thirst.(AH)
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria(AI)
    who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’(AJ)
    or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba(AK) lives’—
    they will fall,(AL) never to rise again.(AM)

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:3 Or “the temple singers will wail
  2. Amos 8:14 Hebrew the way