Amos 8:4-10

4 Hear this, ¹you who trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end,

5 saying, “When will ²the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And ³the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make ⁴the ephah small and the shekel^[a] great and deal deceitfully with false balances,

6 that we may buy the poor for ⁵silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and sell the chaff of the wheat? ”

7 The Lord has sworn by ⁶the pride of Jacob: “Surely ⁷I will never forget any of their deeds.

8 ⁸Shall not the land tremble on this account, and everyone mourn who dwells in it, ⁹and all of it rise like the Nile, and be tossed about ¹⁰and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt? ”

9 “And on that day, ” declares the Lord God, ¹¹“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.

10 ¹²I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; ¹³I will bring sackcloth on every waist ¹⁴and baldness on every head; ¹⁵I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

Amos 8:4-10 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.

Cross References

• 1. 8:4 [Ps. 14:4]
• 2. 8:5 See Num. 28:11
• 3. 8:5 [Neh. 13:15, 16]
• 4. 8:5 Ezek. 45:10; Mic. 6:10, 11; See Hos. 12:7
• 5. 8:6 ch. 2:6
• 6. 8:7 ch. 6:8
• 7. 8:7 Hos. 8:13; 9:9
• 8. 8:8 [Hos. 4:3]
• 9. 8:8 ch. 9:5
• 10. 8:8 [Zech. 10:11]
• 11. 8:9 Jer. 15:9; Mic. 3:6; Matt. 24:29; [ch. 4:13; 5:8]
• 12. 8:10 [Jer. 7:34; 16:9; Hos. 2:11]
• 13. 8:10 Isa. 3:24
• 14. 8:10 Isa. 3:24
• 15. 8:10 Jer. 6:26; Zech. 12:10

Footnotes

• [a] 8:5 An 'ephah' was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a 'shekel' was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams