EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Amos 8:5
5You say to yourselves, ‘We want the new moon festival to finish so that we can sell food again. We want our Sabbath day of rest to finish so that we can sell grain.’ But when you sell things, you cheat the people who buy from you. You deceive them with false weights, and you make the price too high.
Amos 8:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
- New International Version (NIV)saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales,
- English Standard Version (ESV)saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale, that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great and deal deceitfully with false balances,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Saying: “When will the New Moon be past, That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit,
Context of Amos 8:5
3On the day that I come to punish them, people will not sing in the temple. Instead they will weep loudly. There will be dead bodies everywhere. Be quiet now!’ That is what the Lord God says. 4So listen to me, you who are cruel to helpless people. You try to destroy people who are poor and weak. You say to yourselves, ‘We want the new moon festival to finish so that we can sell food again. We want our Sabbath day of rest to finish so that we can sell grain.’ But when you sell things, you cheat the people who buy from you. You deceive them with false weights, and you make the price too high. 6When poor people cannot pay their debts, you buy them as your slaves. You pay a silver coin to buy them, which would not even buy a pair of shoes. You also mix dust with the grain that you sell. 7The Lord has promised this: ‘You proud descendants of Jacob, I will never forget the wrong things that you have done.
Read all of Amos 8Amos 8:5 word by word
לֵאמֹ֗ר מָתַ֞י יַעֲבֹ֤ר הַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ וְנַשְׁבִּ֣ירָה שֶּׁ֔בֶר וְהַשַּׁבָּ֖ת וְנִפְתְּחָה־בָּ֑ר לְהַקְטִ֤ין אֵיפָה֙ וּלְהַגְדִּ֣יל שֶׁ֔קֶל וּלְעַוֵּ֖ת מֹאזְנֵ֥י מִרְמָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Sayingאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- When will the new moonחֹ֫דֶשׁchôdesh · month: new moonH2320
- be goneעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
- that we may sellשָׁבַרshâbar · to buy grainH7666
- cornשֶׁ֫בֶרsheber · grainH7668
- and the sabbathשַׁבָּתshabbâth · SabbathH7676
- that we may set forthפָּתַחpâthach · to openH6605
- wheatבַּרbâr bar · grainH1250
- making the ephahאֵיפָה'êyphâh 'êphâh · ephahH374
- smallקָטֹןqâţôn · be smallH6994
- and the shekelשֶׁ֫קֶלsheqel · shekelH8255
- greatגָּדַלgâdal · to magnifyH1431
- and falsifyingעָוַת‛âvath · to pervertH5791
- the balancesמֹאזֵןmô'zên · balanceH3976
- by deceitמִרְמָהmirmâh · deceitH4820
Cross-references for Amos 8:5
- Numbers 10:10You must make sounds with the trumpets on your happy days, too. And you must make sounds with the trumpets at your regular festivals and on the first days of your months. And you must make sounds with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over your friendship offerings. God will hear and he will remember you. I am the Lord your God.’
- Numbers 28:11Also, on the first day of every month, you must give a burnt offering to the Lord. It must be two young bulls, one male sheep and seven male lambs. The lambs must be one year old and they must not have anything wrong with them.
- 2 Kings 4:23Her husband asked, ‘Why do you want to go and see him today? It is not a special day with a new moon. It is not a Sabbath day.’ She said, ‘All is well.’
- Psalms 81:3Start the New Moon Festival with the sound of the trumpet. Also do it on the day of the Full Moon.
- Isaiah 1:13Do not bring any more useless gifts to offer to me! I do not like your incense. You like to have feasts at new moons, or on Sabbath days. But because of your sins, I hate all your holy meetings.
- Colossians 2:16Some people may tell you that it is wrong for you to eat or to drink certain things. Or they make rules about special festival days, about new moons, or about the Jewish days for rest. Do not agree with people like that.
- Malachi 1:13You also say, “It is too much trouble to serve the Lord.” You think that you are too important to serve me.’ That is what the Lord Almighty says. ‘You offer to me animals that cannot walk or that are ill. You have even robbed other people to get some of these animals. Do you think that I will accept these unclean animals from you? Will I be happy with them?’ That is what the Lord says.
- Exodus 20:8Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it as a special day for me.
- Nehemiah 13:15In those days, I saw people in Judah who were working on Sabbath days. They were making wine. They were bringing their grain from the fields. They were making their donkeys carry the grain, as well as wine, grapes, figs and other things. They were bringing all those things into Jerusalem when it was a Sabbath day. I warned them that they must not sell things on any Sabbath day.
- Isaiah 58:13So remember to obey the rules for the Sabbath day. That is my holy day, so do not just try to please yourselves. Enjoy the Sabbath day, and respect it as the Lord's holy day. Do not do your usual work on that day. Do not do things or speak about things, only to make yourself happy.
- Romans 8:6People who let their human thoughts rule them will die. But people who think about what God's Spirit wants will have life with God. They will have peace inside themselves.
- Leviticus 19:36They must use correct weights and measures. I am the Lord your God. I led you out of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 25:13Do not try to cheat people when you weigh or measure things. Do not carry with you two different stone weights, one light one and one heavy one.
- Proverbs 11:1The Lord hates traders who do not use true weights. He is happy when they are honest and they use true weights.
- Proverbs 16:11The Lord wants people to use true weights and measures. He knows all the weights that a trader uses.
- Proverbs 20:23The Lord hates traders who use false weights. He hates scales that do not weigh things properly.
Commentaries on Amos 8:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5When will the new moon be gone - This was kept as a kind of holy day, not by Divine command, but by custom. The Sabbath was strictly holy; and yet so covetous were they that they grudged to give to God and their own souls this seventh portion of time! But bad and execrable as they were, they neither set forth their corn, nor their wheat, nor any other kind of merchandise, on the Sabbath. They were saints then, when compared to multitudes called…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5When will the new moon be gone? - They kept their festivals, though weary and impatient for their close. They kept sabbath and festival with their bodies, not with their minds. The Psalmist said, “When shall I come to appear before the presencc of God?” Psalm 42:2. These said, perhaps in their hearts only which God reads to them, “when will this service be over, that we may be our own masters again?” They loathed the rest of the sabbath, because they had…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 4-10Verses 4-10 The rich and powerful of the land were the most guilty of oppression, as well as the foremost in idolatry. They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new moons, and wished them over, because no common work might be done therein. This is the character of many who are called Christians. The sabbath day and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts. It will either be profaned or be accounted a dull day. But can we spend our time…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5Work was strictly forbidden on the Sabbath day (Exodus 20:9–10). Amos suggests that shops also closed during pagan new-moon religious festivals. Merchants cheated their customers by using small ephahs (containers for measuring grain), so buyers received less than they paid for. They also cheated their suppliers by using heavy shekels (weights of silver) on their scales, so sellers received less payment. God’s law clearly forbade these dishonest practices…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. So greedy are they of unjust gain that they cannot spare a single day, however sacred, from pursuing it. They are strangers to God and enemies to themselves, who love market days better than sabbath days; and they who have lost piety will not long keep honesty. The new moons (Nu 10:10) and sabbaths were to be kept without working or trading (Ne 10:31). set forth wheat--literally, "open out" stores of wheat for sale. ephah--containing three seahs, or…Read the comment
Topics related to Amos 8:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Amos 8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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