Amos 8:1-14
Amos Has a Vision of a Basket of Ripe Fruit
The Lord and King gave me a vision. He showed me a basket of ripe fruit. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I replied.
Then the Lord said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel. I will no longer spare them.
“The time is coming when the songs in the temple will turn to weeping,” announces the Lord and King. “Many, many bodies will be thrown everywhere! So be quiet!”
Listen to me, you who walk all over needy people.
You crush those who are poor in the land.
You say,
“When will the New Moon feast be over?
Then we can sell our grain.
When will the Sabbath day come to an end?
Then people can buy our wheat.”
But you measure out less than the right amount.
You raise your prices.
You cheat others by using dishonest scales.
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.
People of Jacob, you are proud that the Lord is your God. But he has made a promise in his own name. He says, “I will never forget anything Israel has done.
“The land will tremble because of what will happen.
Everyone who lives in it will mourn.
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.”
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.
I will turn your holy feasts into times for mourning.
I will turn all your songs into weeping.
You will have to wear the clothing of sadness.
You will shave your heads.
I will make you mourn as if your only son had died.
The end of that time will be like a bitter day.”
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.
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.
“At that time
“the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because they are so thirsty.
Some people make promises in the name of Samaria’s god.
That god has led them astray.
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 these people will fall dead.
They will never get up again.”
Amos 9:1-15
Israel Will Be Destroyed
I saw the Lord standing next to the altar in the temple. He said to me,
“Strike the tops of the temple pillars.
Then the heavy stones at the base of the entrance will shake.
Bring everything down on the heads of everyone there.
I will kill with my swords
those who are left alive.
None of the Israelites will escape.
None will get away.
They might dig down deep.
But my powerful hand will take them out of there.
They might climb up to the heavens.
But I will bring them down from there.
They might hide on top of Mount Carmel.
But I will hunt them down
and grab them.
They might hide from me at the bottom of the ocean.
But even there I will command the serpent to bite them.
Their enemies might take them away
as prisoners to another country.
But there I will command Israel’s enemies
to cut them down with swords.
I will keep my eye on Israel to harm them.
I will not help them.”
The Lord rules over all.
The Lord touches the earth, and it melts.
Everyone who lives in it mourns.
The whole land rises like the Nile River.
Then it settles back down again
like that river in Egypt.
The Lord builds his palace high in the heavens.
He lays its foundation on the earth.
He sends for the waters in the clouds.
Then he pours them out on the surface of the land.
His name is the Lord.
“You Israelites are just like
the people of Cush to me,”
announces the Lord.
“I brought Israel up from Egypt.
I also brought the Philistines from Crete
and the Arameans from Kir.
“I am the Lord and King.
My eyes are watching the sinful kingdom of Israel.
I will wipe it off the face of the earth.
But I will not totally destroy the people of Jacob,”
announces the Lord.
“I will give an order.
I will shake the people of Israel
among all the nations.
They will be like grain that is shaken through a screen.
Not a pebble will fall to the ground.
All the sinners among my people
will be killed by swords.
They say, ‘Nothing bad will ever happen to us.’
Israel Will Be Made Like New Again
“The time will come when I will set up
David’s fallen shelter.
I will repair its broken walls.
I will rebuild what was destroyed.
I will make it what it used to be.
Then my people will take control of those
who are left alive in Edom.
They will also possess all the nations
that belong to me,”
announces the Lord.
He will do all these things.
“The days are coming,” announces the Lord.
“At that time those who plow the land
will catch up with those who harvest the crops.
Those who stomp on grapes
will catch up with those who plant the vines.
Fresh wine will drip from the mountains.
It will flow down from all the hills.
I will bring my people Israel back home.
I will bless them with great success again.
They will rebuild the destroyed cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce.
They will make gardens and eat their fruit.
I will plant Israel in their own land.
They will never again be removed
from the land I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.
