Amos 8:1-10
Summer Fruit
Read the passage
1This is what the Lord GOD showed me: I saw a basket of summer fruit.
2“Amos, what do you see?” He asked. “A basket of summer fruit,” I replied. So the LORD said to me, “The end has come for My people Israel; I will no longer spare them.”
3“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”
4Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
5asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.
6Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”
7The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.
8Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
9And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
10I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
The Lord GOD shows Amos a basket of summer fruit and asks what he sees. Then He announces that the end has come for Israel; He will no longer spare them. Temple songs will turn to wailing, and bodies will lie everywhere in silence.
The LORD addresses people who trample the needy. They cannot wait for the New Moon and Sabbath to end so they can sell grain again. Their plans are dishonest: reduce the amount of grain measured out, increase the weight used to calculate payment, and cheat with false scales. They buy the poor for silver and the needy for sandals, and even sell chaff with the wheat.
The LORD swears that He will never forget their deeds. The land will quake, rising and sinking like the Nile, and all its people will mourn. He will darken the earth at noon and turn feasts and songs into grief.
Sackcloth and shaved heads will mark a sorrow like mourning an only son. The merchants count the moments until worship is over, eager to resume exploiting others. The LORD names those ordinary business practices as deeds He will judge.
Questions
1 What did the LORD show Amos?
AnswerHe showed Amos a basket of summer fruit. The LORD explained that the end had come for His people Israel and He would no longer spare them.
2 What happened to the songs of the temple?
AnswerThey would become wailing, with corpses thrown everywhere and silence replacing the songs that once filled the temple.
3 How did the merchants cheat people?
AnswerThey reduced the grain measure, increased the weight for payment, used dishonest scales, and sold chaff with the wheat. Their customers received less than they should.
4 Whom did they buy for silver?
AnswerThey bought the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, reducing people to the price of a small debt or a cheap pair of shoes.
What This Means for Us
Honesty includes the details another person may not notice. The merchants cheat through the size of a measure and the weight on a scale.
When buying or selling, describe what you offer accurately and make the price clear. If you discover a mistake in your favor, say so and correct it. Children can practice this with something as small as returning extra change.
Prayer
LORD, make us honest in every exchange. Keep us from profiting through another person's weakness, and teach us to protect workers and the poor. Amen.