Amos 8:4-14

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.

11 "Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "when ¹⁶I will send a famine on the land-- not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, ¹⁷but of hearing the words of the LORD.

12 ¹⁸They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, ¹⁹but they shall not find it.

13 ²⁰"In that day the lovely virgins and the young men shall ²¹faint for thirst.

14 Those who swear by ²²the Guilt of Samaria, and say, 'As your god lives, O Dan,' and, 'As ²³the Way of ²⁴Beersheba lives,' they shall fall, and never rise again."

Amos 8:4-14 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.

Cross References

• 1. [Psalms 14:4]
• 2. See Numbers 28:11
• 3. [Nehemiah 13:15, 16]
• 4. Ezekiel 45:10; Micah 6:10, 11; See Hosea 12:7
• 5. Amos 2:6
• 6. Amos 6:8
• 7. Hosea 8:13; Hosea 9:9
• 8. [Hosea 4:3]
• 9. Amos 9:5
• 10. [Zechariah 10:11]
• 11. Jeremiah 15:9; Micah 3:6; Matthew 24:29; [Amos 4:13; Amos 5:8]
• 12. [Jeremiah 7:34; Jeremiah 16:9; Hosea 2:11]
• 13. Isaiah 3:24
• 14. Isaiah 3:24
• 15. Jeremiah 6:26; Zechariah 12:10
• 16. [Isaiah 8:20, 21]
• 17. [Psalms 74:9; Proverbs 29:18; Micah 3:7]
• 18. [See ver. 11 above]
• 19. [Amos 4:8]
• 20. Isaiah 51:20
• 21. [Jonah 4:8]
• 22. Deuteronomy 9:21; 1 Kings 12:29, 30; Hosea 10:8
• 23. [Acts 9:2]
• 24. Amos 5:5

Footnotes

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