81 This is what the Lord God let me see: and I saw a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what do you see? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then the Lord said to me, The end has come to my people Israel; never again will my eyes be shut to their sin. 3 And the songs of the king's house will be cries of pain in that day, says the Lord God: great will be the number of the dead bodies, and everywhere they will put them out without a word.
4 Give ear to this, you who are crushing the poor, and whose purpose is to put an end to those who are in need in the land, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, so that we may do trade in grain? and the Sabbath, so that we may put out in the market the produce of our fields? making the measure small and the price great, and trading falsely with scales of deceit; 6 Getting the poor for silver, and him who is in need for the price of two shoes, and taking a price for the waste parts of the grain. 7 The Lord has taken an oath by the pride of Jacob, Truly I will ever keep in mind all their works. 8 Will not the land be shaking with fear because of this, and everyone in it have sorrow? and all of it will be overflowing like the River; and it will be troubled and go down again like the River of Egypt. 9 And it will come about in that day, says the Lord God, that I will make the sun go down in the middle of the day, and I will make the earth dark in daylight: 10 Your feasts will be turned into sorrow and all your melody into songs of grief; everyone will be clothed with haircloth, and the hair of every head will be cut; I will make the weeping like that for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 See, the days are coming, says the Lord God, when I will send times of great need on the land, not need of food or desire for water, but for hearing the words of the Lord. 12 And they will go wandering from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, running here and there in search of the word of the Lord, and they will not get it. 13 In that day the fair virgins and the young men will be feeble from need of water. 14 Those who make their oaths by the sin of Samaria and say, By the life of your God, O Dan; and, By the living way of Beer-sheba; even they will go down, never again to be lifted up.
31 Give ear to this word which the Lord has said against you, O children of Israel, against all the family which I took up out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 You only of all the families of the earth have I taken care of: for this reason I will send punishment on you for all your sins. 3 Is it possible for two to go walking together, if not by agreement? 4 Will a lion give his loud cry in the woodland when no food is there? will the voice of the young lion be sounding from his hole if he has taken nothing? 5 Is it possible for a bird to be taken in a net on the earth where no net has been put for him? will the net come up from the earth if it has taken nothing at all? 6 If the horn is sounded in the town will the people not be full of fear? will evil come on a town if the Lord has not done it? 7 Certainly the Lord will do nothing without making clear his secret to his servants, the prophets. 8 The cry of the lion is sounding; who will not have fear? The Lord God has said the word; is it possible for the prophet to keep quiet?
9 Give out the news in the great houses of Assyria and in the land of Egypt, and say, Come together on the mountains of Samaria, and see what great outcries are there, and what cruel acts are done in it. 10 For they have no knowledge of how to do what is right, says the Lord, who are storing up violent acts and destruction in their great houses. 11 For this reason, says the Lord, an attacker will come, shutting in the land on every side; and your strength will come down and your great houses will be made waste. 12 These are the words of the Lord: As the keeper of sheep takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs or part of an ear; so will the children of Israel be made safe, who are resting in Samaria on seats of honour or on the silk cushions of a bed. 13 Give ear now, and give witness against the family of Jacob, says the Lord God, the God of armies; 14 For in the day when I give Israel punishment for his sins, I will send punishment on the altars of Beth-el, and the horns of the altar will be cut off and come down to the earth. 15 And I will send destruction on the winter house with the summer house; the ivory houses will be falling down and the great houses will come to an end, says the Lord.
