Amos 8:4-6

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?"

Amos 8:4-6 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

Footnotes

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