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.
9. “In that day,” says the Sovereign lord,“I will make the sun go down at noonand darken the earth while it is still day.
10. I will turn your celebrations into times of mourningand your singing into weeping.You will wear funeral clothesand shave your heads to show your sorrow—as if your only son had died.How very bitter that day will be!