Amos 8:6-14

6 You 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.
7 People of Jacob, you are proud that the LORD is your God. But he has taken an oath 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 sob. 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."
9 The 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.
10 I will turn your holy feasts into times for sobbing. I will turn all of your songs into crying. You will have to wear black clothes. You will shave your heads. I will make you sob as if your only son had died. The end of that time will be like a bitter day."
11 The 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.
12 People 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.
14 Some people take oaths in the name of Samaria's shameful god. 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 of those people will fall dead. They will never get up again."

Amos 8:6-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO AMOS 8

In this chapter a fourth vision is delivered, the vision of a "basket of summer fruit"; signifying the destruction of the ten tribes, for which they were ripe, and which would quickly come upon them, Am 8:1-3; the rich are reproved for their oppression of the poor, their covetousness and earthly mindedness, Am 8:4-6; for which they are threatened with entire ruin, sudden calamities, and very mournful times, instead of light, joy, and gladness, Am 8:7-10; and particularly with a famine of hearing the word of God, Am 8:11,12; the consequence of which would be, a fainting of the young men and virgins for thirst, and the utter and irrecoverable ruin of all idolaters, Am 8:13,14.

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