Amos 8:5

and ye say, When shall harvest pass, and we shall sell merchandises? and the sabbath, and we shall open (our) wheat (again)? that we make less the measure, and increase the shekel, and that we set privily guileful balances; (and ye say, When shall the new moon pass, and then we can sell our corn again? and the Sabbath end, and we can sell our wheat again? and we can make the measure less, and increase the shekel, and we can secretly, or privately, set deceptive balances, or scales, again;)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

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?

In Context

4Hear ye this thing, which all-break a poor man, and make needy men of the land for to fail; (Hear ye this, which shall altogether break the poor, and shall make the needy of the land to fail;)

6that we wield for silver needy men, and poor men for shoes, and we sell out-castings of wheat? (and we can buy the needy for some silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and we can sell the refuse of our wheat again?)

Read all of Amos 8

Cross References

Leviticus 19:36the balance be just, and the weights be even, the bushel be just, and the pint be even; I am your Lord God, that led you out of the land of Egypt. (let the balances be true, and the weights be equal, the bushels be true, and the pints be equal; I am the Lord your God, who led you out of Egypt.)

Numbers 28:11Soothly in the calends, that is, in the beginnings of months, ye shall offer burnt sacrifice to the Lord, twain calves of the drove, one ram, seven lambs of one year, without wem, (And on the calends, that is, at the beginning of every month, ye shall offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, two calves from the herd, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs, all without blemish, or without fault,)

Deuteronomy 25:15Thou shalt have a just weight and true, and an even bushel and true shall be to thee, that thou live in much time on the land which thy Lord God shall give to thee. (Thou shalt have true and just weights, and there shall be a true and just bushel with thee, so that thou can live a long time on the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.)

Nehemiah 13:15In those days I saw in Judah men treading pressers in the sabbath, men bringing (in) heaps, and charging on asses wine, and grapes, and figs, and all (other) burden (s), and bringing (them) into Jerusalem in the day of sabbath; and I witnessed to them, that they should sell in the day in which it was leaveful to sell. (And in those days I saw in Judah men treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and people bringing in heaps of produce, yea, loading up wine, and grapes, and figs, and all other loads onto donkeys, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I witnessed to them, that they should only sell on the days in which it were lawful to sell.)

Psalms 81:3Blow ye with a trump in the new moon; in the noble day of your solemnity. (Blow ye with a trumpet for the new moon; yea, on the noble day of our solemn feast.)

Proverbs 16:11The dooms of the Lord be weight and balance; and his works be all the stones of the world. (The Lord’s justice be equal weights and an honest balance; yea, each of the stones in the world is his own work.)

Matthew Henry on Amos 8:5-11

The Sin and Doom of Oppressors. ( b. c. 785.) 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 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? 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 7 The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Amos 8:5