Amos 8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 8
Fourth Vision: The Summer Fruit
1 This is what the Lord God showed me: a basket of end-of-summer fruit.[a] 2 He asked, “What do you see, Amos?” And I answered, “A basket of end-of-summer fruit.” And the Lord said to me:
The end has come for my people Israel;
I will forgive them no longer.
3 The temple singers will wail on that day—
oracle of the Lord God.
Many shall be the corpses,
strewn everywhere—Silence!(A)
4 Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land:
5 “When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
And the sabbath,
that we may open the grain-bins?
We will diminish the ephah,[b]
add to the shekel,
and fix our scales for cheating!(B)
6 We will buy the destitute for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals;(C)
even the worthless grain we will sell!”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Never will I forget a thing they have done!
8 Shall not the land tremble because of this,
and all who dwell in it mourn?
It will all rise up and toss like the Nile,
and subside like the river of Egypt.(D)
9 On that day—oracle of the Lord God—
I will make the sun set at midday
and in broad daylight cover the land with darkness.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into dirges.
I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth
and make every head bald.
I will make it like the time of mourning for an only child,
and its outcome like a day of bitter weeping.(E)
11 See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine upon the land:
Not a hunger for bread, or a thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the Lord.
12 They shall stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east
In search of the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.(F)
13 On that day, beautiful young women and young men
shall faint from thirst,
14 Those who swear by Ashima of Samaria,[c](G)
and who say, “By the life of your god, O Dan,”
“By the life of the Power of Beer-sheba!”
They shall fall, never to rise again.
Footnotes
- 8:1–2 End-of-summer fruit…the end has come: the English translation attempts to capture the wordplay of the Hebrew. The Hebrew word for “fruit picked late in the season” is qayis, while the word for “end” is qes.
- 8:5 Ephah: see note on Is 5:10.
- 8:14 Ashima of Samaria: a high-ranking goddess worshiped in Hamath, whose cult was transplanted by the people of that city when they were deported to Samaria by the Assyrians (2 Kgs 17:30). The Power of Beer-sheba: possibly an epithet of a deity worshiped in Beer-sheba, either a syncretistic form of the worship of Israel’s God or of another god. Dan…Beer-sheba: the traditional designation for the northern and southern limits of Israel to which the Israelites made pilgrimages.
Amos 8
New International Version
A Basket of Ripe Fruit
8 This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me:(A) a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “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)
3 “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)”
5 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)
6 buying the poor(O) with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.(P)
7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob:(Q) “I will never forget(R) anything they have done.(S)
8 “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)
9 “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
Amos 8
King James Version
8 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2 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 of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7 The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9 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 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 of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 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 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 young men faint for thirst.
14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
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