Amos 8:4-10

⁴Hear this, you who trample the needy, to put an end to the humble of the land, ⁵saying,

“When will the new moon be over,

So that we may sell grain;

And the Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market,

To make the ephah smaller and the shekel bigger,

And to cheat with dishonest scales,

6So as to buy the helpless for money,

And the needy for a pair of sandals,

And that we may sell the refuse of the wheat?”

7The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob,

“Indeed, I will never forget any of their deeds.

8“Because of this will the land not quake,

And everyone who lives in it mourn?

Indeed, all of it will rise up like the Nile,

And it will be tossed about

And subside like the Nile of Egypt.

9“And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord God,

“That I will make the sun go down at noon,

And make the earth dark in broad daylight.

10“Then I will turn your festivals into mourning,

And all your songs into songs of mourning;

And I will put sackcloth around everyone’s waist,

And baldness on every head.

And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son,

And the end of it will be like a bitter day.