The End Has Come: Economic Oppression and Spiritual Famine
Amos 8:1-14
Amo.8.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- כה: ADV
- הראני: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- והנה: ADV
- כלוב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קיץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Jeremiah 24:1-10 (verbal): Uses baskets of fruit (two baskets of figs) as a prophetic sign-symbol to represent imminent judgment and contrasting fates for the people—parallels Amos’s use of a basket as a sign-vision.
- Zechariah 5:1-4, 5:7-11 (structural): Contains a visionary scene centered on a basket (lead basket) as a symbolic object conveying divine judgment and removal of wickedness, closely matching Amos’s basket-as-vision motif.
- Joel 3:13 (Joel 4:13 MT) (thematic): Declares 'the harvest is ripe; put in the sickle'—the ripeness/harvest imagery signals that the time of God’s decisive judgment has come, echoing Amos’s 'summer fruit' as a sign that judgment is imminent.
- Revelation 14:14-20 (thematic): Uses harvest and winepress images to portray eschatological judgment—parallels Amos’s ripe-fruit vision in presenting harvest imagery as the moment of God’s retributive action.
Alternative generated candidates
- Thus the LORD GOD showed me—and behold, a summer-fruit basket.
- Thus the LORD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.
Amo.8.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- מה: PRON,int
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- ראה: VERB,qal,imperat,2,m,sg
- עמוס: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואמר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- כלוב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קיץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אלי: PREP+PRON,1,sg
- בא: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הקץ: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אל: NEG
- עמי: NOUN,m,sg,abs+1s
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- אוסיף: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg
- עוד: ADV
- עבור: PREP
- לו: PRON,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Jeremiah 24:1-10 (verbal): Jeremiah is shown two baskets of figs (good and bad) as a sign-vision; like Amos’ basket of summer fruit, a container of fruit functions as a prophetic sign-symbol conveying imminent judgment and fate for Israel.
- Zechariah 5:7-11 (verbal): Zechariah’s vision of a woman seated in an ephah (basket) with a lead cover uses the image of a basket/ephah as a symbolic vessel of guilt and judgment, echoing Amos’ use of a basket as a sign of coming doom.
- Ezekiel 7:2-4, 7:6 (thematic): Ezekiel repeatedly announces ‘The end is come’ (Heb. ha-kets) over the land, a formula of imminent divine judgment that parallels Amos’ declaration that ‘the end is come upon my people Israel.’
- Revelation 14:15-20 (thematic): Apocalyptic harvest and fruit/vineyard imagery (clusters gathered and trodden in the winepress of God’s wrath) echoes Amos’ use of ripe/summer fruit as the sign of an immediate, inescapable divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” I said, “A summer-fruit basket.” Then the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass over them.
- And he said, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A basket of summer fruit.” And the LORD said to me, “The end has come upon my people Israel; I will spare them no more.
Amo.8.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והילילו: VERB,piel,perf,3,m,pl
- שירות: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- היכל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- רב: ADJ,m,sg
- הפגר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בכל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מקום: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- השליך: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- הס: VERB,qal,impv,2,ms
Parallels
- Amos 5:23 (verbal): Same prophetic theme within Amos — God rejects the music and songs of Israel (’Take away from me the noise of thy songs’), anticipating worship turned into judgment and silence.
- Isaiah 24:8-9 (thematic): Imagery of mirth, timbrels and singing ceasing because of the LORD’s judgment — joy and temple/communal music become silence or lament.
- Psalm 137:4-6 (thematic): ‘How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land?’ — laments over inability to sing sacred songs in exile echo the idea of temple songs becoming howlings.
- Ezekiel 39:17-20 (thematic): Graphic depiction of fallen corpses and carrion called for the birds — parallels Amos’s image of many dead bodies cast forth in every place as consequence of divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day—’The songs of the palace shall be turned to mourning,’ declares the LORD GOD. ‘Many corpses—everywhere they will cast them out; “Silence!”’
- On that day the songs of the temple shall become wailings, declares the LORD; many bodies—everywhere they will be cast out; silence!”},{
Amo.8.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- שמעו: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,pl
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- השאפים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- אביון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולשבית: CONJ+PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- עניי: NOUN,m,pl,abs,poss,1,sg
- ארץ: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 2:6 (verbal): Same prophetic collection; condemns selling the righteous and the needy (‘sell the needy for a pair of sandals’), closely paralleling Amos 8:4’s denunciation of trampling the poor.
- Isaiah 10:1-2 (verbal): Accuses those who enact unjust decrees that ‘rob the poor of my people of their rights,’ language and theme closely echoing the oppression of the needy in Amos 8:4.
- Micah 2:1-2 (thematic): Denounces those who plan to seize fields and houses and thus oppress poor neighbors—a parallel depiction of selfish exploitation of vulnerable people.
- Zechariah 7:9-10 (thematic): Calls explicitly not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner and the poor—an ethical injunction addressing the same social abuses Amos condemns.
- Psalm 10:2 (thematic): Portrays the wicked as hotly pursuing and oppressing the poor and needy, thematically resonant with Amos’s rebuke of those who trample the needy.
Alternative generated candidates
- Hear this, you who crush the needy and bring low the poor of the land,
- Hear this, you who swallow up the needy and make the poor of the land fail,
Amo.8.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- מתי: ADV,int
- יעבר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- החדש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ונשבירה: VERB,qal,imf,1,pl
- שבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והשבת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- ונפתחה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- בר: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- להקטין: INF,hif
- איפה: ADV
- ולהגדיל: INF,hif
- שקל: NOUN,m,sg,cstr
- ולעות: INF,hif
- מאזני: NOUN,m,pl,const
- מרמה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 25:13-16 (allusion): National law forbidding differing weights and measures; provides the legal/backgroundal prohibition that Amos invokes by condemning fraudulent ephah and shekel.
- Leviticus 19:35-36 (verbal): Commands honest balances and measures (“just balances, just weights”); Amos echoes this demand for commercial integrity when denouncing false ephah and deceitful scales.
- Proverbs 11:1 (verbal): “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD”; a pithy moral judgment parallel to Amos’s condemnation of merchants who shrink the ephah and inflate the shekel.
- Micah 6:11 (thematic): Denounces dishonest commerce—‘shall I acquit the man with wicked scales…?’—a prophetic critique closely parallel in theme and imagery to Amos’s charge against fraudulent measures.
Alternative generated candidates
- saying, “When will the new moon be past, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may open the wheat—making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the balances by deceit?”
- saying, “When will the new moon be gone that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath that we may set out wheat? so we may reduce the ephah, increase the shekel, and falsify the scales with deceit?”
Amo.8.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- לקנות: PREP+VERB,qal,inf
- בכסף: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- דלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואביון: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בעבור: PREP
- נעלים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ומפל: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בר: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- נשביר: VERB,qal,impf,1,pl
Parallels
- Amos 2:6 (verbal): Nearly identical wording elsewhere in Amos—selling the righteous/poor for silver and a pair of sandals (repeated charge against exploitation).
- Micah 2:1-2 (thematic): Condemns covetous leaders who seize fields/houses and oppress the poor—social injustice and dispossession like Amos’ complaint.
- Isaiah 10:1-2 (thematic): Woe to those who enact unjust decrees that deny justice to the poor and rob the needy—similar condemnation of legal/exploitative practices.
- Proverbs 22:22-23 (thematic): Warnings against robbing the poor and assurances God hears their cries—addresses exploitation and divine concern for the needy.
- Ezekiel 22:29 (thematic): Accuses the land’s people of extortion, robbery and oppressing the poor and needy—parallel denunciation of economic oppression.
Alternative generated candidates
- Buying the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the swept-out grain.
- Buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings of the wheat.
Amo.8.7 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- נשבע: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בגאון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יעקב: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אם: CONJ
- אשכח: VERB,qal,imperfect,1,m,sg
- לנצח: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כל: DET
- מעשיהם: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,3,pl
Parallels
- Genesis 22:16-18 (verbal): God solemnly swears an oath to guarantee future action (“By myself have I sworn…”), paralleling Amos’ use of a divine oath to assert that God will not forget their deeds.
- Hebrews 6:17-18 (allusion): The New Testament cites God’s oath as confirmation of divine purpose and certainty—echoing Amos’ appeal to a sworn divine guarantee that God will act regarding human deeds.
- Nahum 1:2-3 (thematic): Portrays God as a jealous, avenging judge who will not clear the guilty; thematically parallels Amos’ vow that God will remember and respond to the people’s sinful actions.
- Psalm 62:11-12 (thematic): Affirms that God will repay each person according to their works, resonating with Amos’ declaration that God will not forget all their deeds (implying judgment/recompense).
- Leviticus 26:42 (thematic): Speaks of God ‘remembering’ the covenant and past actions; provides a covenantal background to the language of divine remembrance (and non‑forgetting) found in Amos.
Alternative generated candidates
- The LORD God has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”
- The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.”
Amo.8.8 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- העל: NOUN,m,sg,def
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- תרגז: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- הארץ: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ואבל: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כל: DET
- יושב: VERB,qal,ptcp,1,m,sg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- ועלתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- כאר: PREP,sim
- כלה: ADV
- ונגרשה: VERB,niphal,impf,3,f,sg
- ונשקעה: VERB,niphal,impf,3,f,sg
- כיאור: PREP,sim
- מצרים: NOUN,f,pl,abs
Parallels
- Isaiah 24:19-20 (verbal): Speaks of the earth being broken, dissolved and moved exceedingly so that it rises up and falls down—parallel language and theme of the land convulsing and failing in Amos 8:8.
- Joel 2:10 (thematic): Uses seismic imagery—'the earth shall quake...the heavens shall tremble'—to describe divine judgment; thematically parallels Amos’s image of the land trembling and its inhabitants mourning.
- Habakkuk 3:6 (verbal): Describes God standing and shaking the earth, with waters overflowing and mountains trembling—verbal and thematic resonance with Amos’s image of the land rising like the Nile and sinking like the River of Egypt.
- Psalm 114:4-7 (structural): Portrays the earth and waters behaving like living, mobile entities (mountains skipping, seas fleeing) at Yahweh’s presence—structural parallel to Amos’s anthropomorphic/geo-hydraulic depiction of the land’s upheaval.
- Isaiah 19:5-7 (allusion): Speaks of rivers failing and the Nile drying up in the context of judgment on Egypt; echoes the specific Egyptian-river imagery in Amos 8:8 (rise like the Nile, sink like the River of Egypt).
Alternative generated candidates
- Will not the land quake for this, and all who dwell therein mourn? It will rise up like the Nile and be cast out and sink again like the River of Egypt.
- Will not the land tremble for this, and all who dwell in it mourn? It shall rise like the Nile and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt.
Amo.8.9 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והיה: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- והבאתי: VERB,hif,perf,1,m,sg
- השמש: NOUN,f,sg,def
- בצהרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- והחשכתי: VERB,hiph,perf,1,m,sg
- לארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ביום: PREP
- אור: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joel 2:31 (verbal): Declares that the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great day of the LORD—same cosmic-darkening motif tied to the day of the Lord.
- Isaiah 13:10 (verbal): Speaks of heavenly bodies losing their light (sun, moon, stars) as signs of divine judgment—parallel cosmic imagery and language.
- Amos 5:20 (thematic): Earlier in Amos the 'day of the LORD' is described as darkness rather than light, echoing the theme of judgment through darkening signs.
- Matthew 24:29 (allusion): Jesus describes the sun being darkened and stars falling immediately after tribulation—NT use of the same prophetic motif of sun darkening as an eschatological sign.
- Acts 2:20 (quotation): Peter cites Joel's prophecy ('the sun will be turned to darkness') in his Pentecost sermon—an explicit New Testament quotation of the same tradition of sun darkening at judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- “On that day,” declares the LORD GOD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
- It shall come to pass on that day, declares the LORD, that I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight.
Amo.8.10 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והפכתי: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,1,c,sg
- חגיכם: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- לאבל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וכל: CONJ+PRON,indef
- שיריכם: NOUN,m,pl,suff
- לקינה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- והעליתי: VERB,hiph,perf,1,c,sg
- על: PREP
- כל: DET
- מתנים: NOUN,m,du,abs
- שק: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- כל: DET
- ראש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- קרחה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ושמתיה: VERB,qal,impf,1,m,sg+PRON,3,f,sg
- כאבל: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יחיד: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואחריתה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,suff
- כיום: ADV
- מר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Joel 1:8-14 (thematic): Joel calls for lamentation, sackcloth, and a solemn fast because feasts and offerings are cut off—closely parallels Amos’s turning of feasts/songs into mourning and putting on sackcloth.
- Joel 2:15-16 (structural): Joel commands to 'sanctify a fast' and call a solemn assembly—an explicit counterpart to Amos’s image of religious celebration transformed into mourning and lament.
- Ezekiel 7:18 (verbal): Ezekiel uses near-verbatim imagery—putting on sackcloth, shame on faces, and baldness on every head—paralleling Amos’s sackcloth and baldness motifs.
- Micah 1:16 (verbal): Micah commands making bald and enlarging mourning, likening the grief to that for a lost beloved child—echoes Amos’s 'mourning for an only son' and baldness imagery.
- Jeremiah 9:17-21 (thematic): Jeremiah summons mourning women, sackcloth, and public lament because of disaster; the communal funeral language and motifs of sackcloth and bereavement resonate with Amos 8:10.
Alternative generated candidates
- I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will put sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
- I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will put sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
Amo.8.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנה: PART
- ימים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- באים: VERB,qal,part,3,m,pl
- נאם: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אדני: NOUN,m,sg,abs,1,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- והשלחתי: VERB,hiphil,perf,1,m,sg
- רעב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בארץ: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,def
- לא: PART_NEG
- רעב: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ללחם: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- צמא: ADJ,m,sg
- למים: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- כי: CONJ
- אם: CONJ
- לשמע: INF,qal,infc
- את: PRT,acc
- דברי: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,c,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Amos 8:12 (structural): Immediate continuation of 8:11—expands the image: people will wander seeking the word of the LORD and will not find it, reinforcing the 'famine of hearing' motif.
- Hosea 4:6 (thematic): God condemns Israel for lack of knowledge—'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge'—a closely related theme to a society judged by deprivation of divine instruction.
- Proverbs 1:23, 28-31 (thematic): Wisdom appeals are rejected and later, when people call, there is no answering—parallels the reversal in Amos where access to divine speech is withdrawn as judgment.
- Jeremiah 23:21-22 (allusion): Jeremiah contrasts true prophetic sending with false prophets and asserts that when God does not send, his words are withheld—echoes the idea that authentic access to God's word depends on his sending.
- Deuteronomy 28:23-29 (thematic): Covenantal curse language about drought, famine and disorientation as consequences of covenant unfaithfulness provides a background motif of divine judgment expressed as deprivation, helping to frame Amos's metaphorical 'famine' of words.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD GOD, “when I will send a famine in the land—not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of the LORD.
- Behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
Amo.8.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ונעו: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- עד: PREP
- ים: NOUN,m,sg,cs
- ומצפון: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועד: CONJ+PREP
- מזרח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ישוטטו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- לבקש: PREP+VERB,qal,infc
- את: PRT,acc
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- ימצאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
Parallels
- Hosea 5:6 (verbal): Uses almost the same language and theme: people go out to seek the LORD (with flocks/herds) but do not find him — a close verbal and thematic parallel warning of God's withdrawal.
- Hosea 4:6 (thematic): Speaks of ruin because of lack of knowledge of God — parallels Amos' imagery of a 'famine' for the word of the LORD and the consequences of spiritual ignorance.
- Deuteronomy 4:29 (thematic): Promises that seeking the LORD will result in finding him if pursued wholeheartedly — serves as a theological contrast to Amos' depiction of seeking and not finding.
- 2 Chronicles 15:3 (structural): Describes a prolonged absence of true Godly instruction and priests in Israel — parallels Amos' concern about lack of access to the word/teaching of the LORD.
Alternative generated candidates
- They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall roam to seek the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.
- They shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.
Amo.8.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ביום: PREP
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- תתעלפנה: VERB,hitp,impf,3,f,pl
- הבתולת: NOUN,f,pl,def
- היפות: ADJ,f,pl,def
- והבחורים: CONJ+NOUN,m,pl,def
- בצמא: PREP+ADJ,m,sg
Parallels
- Amos 8:11 (structural): Immediate context: announces a coming 'famine' not of bread but of hearing the words of the LORD—sets the scene for the image of people fainting from thirst in v.13.
- Psalm 107:4-5 (verbal): Uses nearly the same language of wandering, being 'hungry and thirsty' and the soul fainting—similar imagery of distress from lack of sustenance and dependence on divine deliverance.
- Lamentations 4:4 (verbal): Graphic image of children’s tongues cleaving to the roof of their mouths for thirst—parallels the physical/poetic portrayal of fainting from lack of water in judgment scenes.
- Joel 1:12–16 (thematic): Agricultural devastation and communal mourning under divine judgment; depicts people, animals, and priests suffering from loss of food and water—parallel theme of calamity causing fainting and sorrow.
- Revelation 6:5–6 (thematic): Apocalyptic depiction of economic scarcity and rationing as a form of judgment (scarcity of grain and high prices)—echoes the prophetic motif of famine/thirst as divine punishment.
Alternative generated candidates
- On that day the fair virgins and the strong young men shall faint with thirst.
- On that day the fair virgins and the young men shall faint from thirst.
Amo.8.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- הנשבעים: PART,niphal,ptc,m,pl,def
- באשמת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שמרון: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואמרו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- חי: ADJ,m,sg
- אלהיך: NOUN,m,sg,prsuf-2ms
- דן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וחי: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- דרך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- באר: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- שבע: NUM,card
- ונפלו: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,pl
- ולא: CONJ
- יקומו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- עוד: ADV
Parallels
- Judges 18:30 (verbal): Dan is explicitly associated with idolatrous cultic practice (a household priest and an image), which resonates with Amos’s reference to swearing by ‘Dan’ as a local cultic guarantor.
- 1 Kings 12:28-30 (allusion): Jeroboam sets up rival sanctuaries (including Dan) and gods for Israel; Amos’s invocation of ‘Dan’ echoes this northern cultic locus and its illegitimate claim to divine authority.
- 2 Kings 10:29 (thematic): A post-judgment summary that Israel did not abandon the calf-worship at Dan and Bethel—paralleling Amos’s condemnation of popular oaths that treat these sites/gods as trustworthy.
- Isaiah 28:15 (thematic): Isaiah condemns reliance on false oaths and covenants (‘we have made a covenant with death’), a closely related motif to Amos’s denunciation of people swearing by illegitimate gods/places and expecting security.
Alternative generated candidates
- Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan!’ and ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’—they shall fall and never rise again.
- Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan!’ and ‘As the way of Beersheba lives!’—they shall fall and never rise again.
Thus the LORD showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. And he said, "What do you see, Amos?" And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me, "The end has come upon my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
On that day," declares the LORD, "the songs in the temple shall be turned to wailing; many dead bodies—cast out everywhere. Silence!
Hear this, you who trample the needy and bring ruin to the poor of the land,
saying, 'When will the new moon be over that we may sell grain, and the sabbath be ended that we may open the wheat?—making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit,'
buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the refuse of the wheat.
The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: 'I will never forget any of their deeds.'
Will not the land tremble for this, and all who dwell in it mourn? It shall rise like the Nile and flow on and be driven away, like the river of Egypt.
On that day," declares the LORD, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight.
I will turn your festivities into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will put sackcloth on every waist and make every head bald; I will make it like mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.
People shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.
On that day the fair young women and the young men shall faint from thirst.
Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, 'As your god lives, O Dan,' and, 'As the way to Beersheba lives'—they shall fall and never rise again.