Basket of Fruit and Israel’s Captivity

This is what the Lord [a]God 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 the Lord said to me, “The (B)end has come for My people Israel. I will not [b](C)spare them any longer. [c]The (D)songs of the palace will turn to (E)wailing on that day,” declares the Lord God. “The (F)corpses will be many; in every place [d]they will throw them out. [e]Hush!”

Hear this, you who [f](G)trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land, saying,

“When will the (H)new moon [g]be over,
So that we may sell grain;
And the (I)Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market,
To make the [h]ephah smaller and the [i]shekel bigger,
And to (J)cheat with dishonest scales,
So as to (K)buy the helpless for [j]money,
And the needy for a pair of sandals,
And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

The Lord has (L)sworn by the (M)pride of Jacob,
“Indeed, I will (N)never forget any of their deeds.
Because of this will the land not (O)quake,
And everyone who lives in 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 come about on that day,” declares the Lord God,
“That I will make the (R)sun go down at noon,
And (S)make the earth dark in [k]broad daylight.
10 Then I will (T)turn your festivals into mourning,
And all your songs into songs of mourning;
And I will put (U)sackcloth around everyone’s waist,
And [l]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 the Lord God,
“When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
But rather (W)for hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will roam about to (X)seek the word of the Lord,
But they will not find it.
13 On that day the beautiful (Y)virgins
And the young men will (Z)faint from thirst.
14 As for those who swear by the [m](AA)guilt of Samaria,
And say, ‘As your god lives, (AB)Dan,’
And, ‘As the way of (AC)Beersheba lives,’
They will fall and (AD)not rise again.”

Footnotes

  1. Amos 8:1 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
  2. Amos 8:2 Lit pass him by
  3. Amos 8:3 Lit They will howl the palace songs
  4. Amos 8:3 Lit he has thrown
  5. Amos 8:3 An order for sacred silence
  6. Amos 8:4 Or snap at
  7. Amos 8:5 Lit pass by
  8. Amos 8:5 About 1 cubic foot or 0.03 cubic meters
  9. Amos 8:5 About 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  10. Amos 8:6 Lit silver
  11. Amos 8:9 Lit a day of light
  12. Amos 8:10 I.e., shaved as a sign of mourning
  13. 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