Amos 8:3-5

Easy-to-Read Version

³Their temple songs will become funeral songs.” This is what the Lord God said. “There will be dead bodies everywhere. In silence, people will take out the dead bodies and throw them onto the pile.^[a]”

Merchants Only Want to Make Money

⁴Listen to me, you who trample on helpless people.
    You are trying to destroy the poor of this country.
⁵You merchants say,
    “When will the New Moon be over so that we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath be over
    so that we can bring out more wheat to sell?
We can raise the price
    and make the measure smaller.^[b]
We can fix the scales
    and cheat the people.^[c]

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Footnotes

Amos 8:3 In silence … the pile Or “People will be saying, ‘Hush!’” See Amos 6:10.
Amos 8:5 We … smaller Literally, “We will make the ephah small and the shekel large.”
Amos 8:5 We … people Literally, “Cheat with lying balances.”