1. Then the Sovereign lord showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit.
2. “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.”Then the lord said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again.
3. In that day the singing in the Temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign lord, have spoken!”
4. Listen to this, you who rob the poorand trample down the needy!
5. You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be overand the religious festivals to endso you can get back to cheating the helpless.You measure out grain with dishonest measuresand cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.
6. And you mix the grain you sellwith chaff swept from the floor.Then you enslave poor peoplefor one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.
7. Now the lord has sworn this oathby his own name, the Pride of Israel:“I will never forgetthe wicked things you have done!
8. The earth will tremble for your deeds,and everyone will mourn.The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime;it will heave up, then sink again.