1 Basket of Fruit and Israel’s Captivity Thus the Lord Gshowed me [a vision], and behold,there wasa basket of [overripe] summer fruit.
2 And He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lsaid to me, “The end has come for My people Israel. I will spare them no longer [for the nation is ripe for judgment].
3 In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord G. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”
4 Hear this, you who trample down the needy, and do away with the poor of the land,
5 saying,“When will the New Moon [festival] be overSo that we may sell grain,And the Sabbath ended so that we may open the wheatmarket,Making the ephah [measure] smaller and the shekel bigger [that is, selling less for a higher price]And to cheat by falsifying the scales,
6 So that we may buy the poor [as slaves] for silver [since they are unable to support themselves]And theSee 2:6.needy for a pair of sandals,And that we may sell the leftovers of the wheat [as if it were a good grade of grain]?”
7 The Lhas sworn [an oath] by the pride of Jacob,“Surely I shall never forget [nor leave unpunished] any of their [rebellious] acts.
8 Because of this [coming judgment] will the land not quakeAnd everyone mourn who dwells in it?Indeed, all of it shall rise up like the Nile,And it will be tossed around [from the impact of judgment]And [afterward] subside again like the Nile of Egypt.
9 It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord G,“That I shall cause the sun to go down at noon,And I shall darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 And I shall turn your festivalsandfeasts into mourningAnd all your songs into dirges (funeral poems to be sung);And I shall cause sackcloth to be put on everyone’sThe midsection of the body between the lower ribs and the thighs.loinsAnd baldness on every head [shaved for mourning].And I shall make that time likea time ofmourning for an only son [who has died],And the end of it shall be like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord G,“When I will send hunger over the land,Not hunger for bread or a thirst for water,But rather [a hunger] for hearing the words of the L.
12 People shall stagger from sea to sea [to the very ends of the earth]And from the north even to the east;They will roam here and there to seek the word of the L[longing for it as essential for life],But they will not find it.
13 In that day the beautiful virginsAnd [even the vigorous] young men shall faint from thirst.
14 Those who swear [their oaths] by the sin (guilt) of SamariaorAshimah (a pagan goddess),Who say, ‘By the life of your god [the golden calf], O Dan!’And [swear], ‘By the life of the way of [idolatrous] Beersheba,’They shall fall and not rise again.”