Amos 8:1-6 - Compare All Versions

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This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket 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. “In that day,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!” Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

This is what the Lord GOD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. 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 upon my people Israel; I will never again pass by them. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord GOD. “So many dead bodies!” “They are thrown everywhere!” “Silence!” Hear this, you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end, saying, “When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances, that we may buy the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked. I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.” Then the LORD said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again. In that day the singing in the temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!” Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy! You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales. And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor. Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.

The Lord GOD showed me this: a basket of summer fruit. He asked me, “What do you see, Amos? ”  I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.”  , The LORD said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel;  I will no longer spare them.  In that day the temple  songs  will become wailing”   — this is the Lord GOD’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!  Silence! ”  Hear this, you who trample on the needy  and do away with the poor of the land,  asking, “When will the New Moon be over so we may sell grain,  and the Sabbath, so we may market wheat?  We can reduce the measure while increasing the price  and cheat with dishonest scales.  We can buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals  and even sell the chaff! ”

Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 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. 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. Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 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? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?

Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, a basket of summer fruit. And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” So I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me: “The end has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore. And the songs of the temple Shall be wailing in that day,” Says the Lord GOD— “Many dead bodies everywhere, They shall be thrown out in silence.” Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, And make the poor of the land fail, Saying: “When will the New Moon be past, That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit, That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals— Even sell the bad wheat?”

My Master GOD showed me this vision: A bowl of fresh fruit. He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A bowl of fresh, ripe fruit.” GOD said, “Right. So, I’m calling it quits with my people Israel. I’m no longer acting as if everything is just fine.” “The royal singers will wail when it happens.” My Master GOD said so. “Corpses will be strewn here, there, and everywhere. Hush!” Listen to this, you who walk all over the weak, you who treat poor people as less than nothing, Who say, “When’s my next paycheck coming so I can go out and live it up? How long till the weekend when I can go out and have a good time?” Who give little and take much, and never do an honest day’s work. You exploit the poor, using them— and then, when they’re used up, you discard them.

This is what the Lord GOD showed me, and behold, there was a basket of summer fruit. And He said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will not spare them any longer. The songs of the palace will turn to wailing on that day,” declares the Lord GOD. “The corpses will be many; in every place they will throw them out. Hush!” Hear this, you who trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain; And the Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market, To make the ephah smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales, So as to buy the helpless for money, And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

Thus the Lord GOD showed me [a vision], and behold, there was a basket of [overripe] summer fruit. 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 for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer [for the nation is ripe for judgment]. In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord GOD. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.” Hear this, you who trample down the needy, and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon [festival] be over So that we may sell grain, And the Sabbath ended so that we may open the wheat market, Making the ephah [measure] smaller and the shekel bigger [that is, selling less for a higher price] And to cheat by falsifying the scales, So that we may buy the poor [as slaves] for silver [since they are unable to support themselves] And the needy for a pair of sandals, And that we may sell the leftovers of the wheat [as if it were a good grade of grain]?”

The sovereign LORD showed me this: I saw a basket of summer fruit. He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins. The women singing in the temple will wail in that day.” The sovereign LORD is speaking. “There will be many corpses littered everywhere! Be quiet!” Listen to this, you who trample the needy, and do away with the destitute in the land. You say, “When will the new moon festival be over, so we can sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, so we can open up the grain bins? We’re eager to sell less for a higher price, and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales! We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, a pair of sandals for the needy! We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”