Amos Chapter 8
Showing all 14 verses for Amos Chapter 8.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. "
"God showed Amos another vision: a basket of ripe summer fruit."
Don't mistake outward success or abundance for real health — ripeness can also mean you're right at the edge of falling, so stay humble rather than complacent.
"And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. "
"God asked Amos what he saw; Amos said a basket of ripe fruit; God said this meant the end had come for Israel and he would no longer overlook them."
Consequences often ripen naturally out of how we've been living — don't be shocked when unaddressed wrongs finally come due; deal with them early instead.
"And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. "
"The temple's celebratory songs will turn into wailing; there will be corpses everywhere, carried out in silence."
Don't build your joy on things that ignore other people's suffering — real celebration has to rest on genuine integrity, or it eventually turns hollow.
"Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, "
"Listen to this, Amos says, you who trample the needy and try to wipe out the poor of the land."
Really see the people affected by how business gets done around you — don't let "that's just how it works" blind you to who gets hurt by it.
"Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? "
"They can't wait for the religious holidays to be over so they can get back to selling grain — shrinking the measure, inflating the price, and rigging the scales to cheat their customers."
Don't let outward observance or good appearances become a mask — what you actually do in ordinary, unwatched moments reveals what you really believe.
"That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? "
"They buy up the poor like property for a bit of silver, or even for the price of a pair of sandals, and sell the leftover sweepings of grain as if it were good produce."
Never treat another person's desperation as your opportunity for profit — human dignity isn't for sale at any price.
"The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. "
"God swore by his own pride in Israel — "the excellency of Jacob" — that he would never forget what they had done."
How you treat people with less power than you is never invisible or forgotten — it's the truest measure of your character, and I remember it even when no one else does.
"Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. "
"Won't the land itself tremble for this, and everyone in it grieve? It will heave up like a flood and be swept away, just like the Nile flooding Egypt."
Unresolved wrongdoing eventually shakes everything around it, not just the people directly harmed by it — deal with it honestly and early, for everyone's sake.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: "
"God says he will make the sun go down at midday, plunging the earth into darkness in the middle of broad daylight."
Don't assume the future will automatically favour you just because you expect it to — live rightly now instead of banking on an assumed blessing later.
"And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. "
"God will turn festivals into funerals and songs into weeping; everyone will wear mourning clothes and shave their heads in grief, like mourning an only child — a genuinely bitter day."
Grief faced honestly, even bitter grief, can be the beginning of real change — don't numb yourself to consequence, let it actually teach you something.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: "
"A time is coming, God says, when there will be a famine — not of food or water, but of ever hearing any real word of guidance or truth."
Hunger for truth and genuine wisdom is as real as hunger for food — actively seek out honest guidance now, don't assume it'll always be there when you finally want it.
"And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. "
"People will wander everywhere, from sea to sea and north to east, desperately searching for God's word, and they will find nothing."
Value truth and guidance while you actually have access to it — don't take wisdom for granted, because it isn't always there the moment you finally decide you want it.
"In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. "
"In that day, even the strongest and healthiest people — the fair young women and young men — will collapse from thirst."
Injustice's fallout doesn't spare the innocent or the young — that's exactly why acting on conscience early matters, for everyone's sake, not just your own.
"They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. "
"Those who swear oaths by the idols of Samaria, or by "the god of Dan," or by the worship-practice of Beersheba, will fall and never get up again."
Examine what you're really placing your security in — anything other than genuine integrity and honest relationship will let you down exactly when you need it most.