Amos 8

Amos Has a Vision of a Basket of Ripe Fruit 1The LORD and King gave me a vision. He showed me a basket of ripe fruit.

2“What do you see, Amos?” he asked. “A basket of ripe fruit,” I replied. Then the LORD said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel. I will no longer spare them.

3“The time is coming when the songs in the temple will turn to weeping,” announces the LORD and King. “Many, many bodies will be thrown everywhere! So be quiet!”

4Listen to me, you who walk all over needy people. You crush those who are poor in the land.

5You say, “When will the New Moon feast be over? Then we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath day come to an end? Then people can buy our wheat.” But you measure out less than the right amount. You raise your prices. You cheat others by using dishonest scales.

6You buy poor people to make slaves out of them. You buy those who are in need for a mere pair of sandals. You even sell the worthless parts of your wheat.

7People of Jacob, you are proud that the LORD is your God. But he has made a promise in his own name. He says, “I will never forget anything Israel has done.

8“The land will tremble because of what will happen. Everyone who lives in it will mourn. So the whole land will rise like the Nile River. It will be stirred up. Then it will settle back down again like that river in Egypt.”

9The LORD and King announces, “At that time I will make the sun go down at noon. The earth will become dark in the middle of the day.

10I will turn your holy feasts into times for mourning. I will turn all your songs into weeping. You will have to wear the clothing of sadness. You will shave your heads. I will make you mourn as if your only son had died. The end of that time will be like a bitter day.”

11The LORD and King announces, “The days are coming when I will send hunger through the land. But people will not be hungry for food. They will not be thirsty for water. Instead, they will be hungry to hear a message from me.

12People will wander from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean. They will travel from north to east. They will look for a message from me. But they will not find it.

13“At that time “the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because they are so thirsty. 14Some people make promises in the name of Samaria’s god. That god has led them astray. Others say, ‘People of Dan, you can be sure that your god is alive.’ Still others say, ‘You can be sure that Beersheba’s god is alive.’ But all these people will fall dead. They will never get up again.”