The big picture
Amos 8 opens in verse 1 with “Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.”, reaches its middle movement near verse 7 with “The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their…”, and closes in verse 14 with “They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner…” Repeated or prominent terms include LORD, land, basket, famine, flood. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
Amos · King James Version · 14Amos 8:1-7
1–7: Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer…
Amos 8:1–7 opens with “Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.” and reaches “The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on The basket of summer fruit, merchants waiting to cheat with false measures, and a famine of hearing the Lord’s words, with particular weight carried by LORD, basket, fruit.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 3 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.” The verse names Lord rather than leaving the action without a source. Watch whether the next line continues, answers, or contrasts that action.
“And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come…” The question slows the passage down. Notice who is being pressed to answer, what the question assumes, and whether the next lines provide a response.
Amos 8:1-7
King James Version1Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
2And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
3And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD : there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
4Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
5Saying, 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?
6That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
7The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
Amos 8:8-14
8–14: Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth…
Amos 8:8–14 opens with “Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall…” and reaches “They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on The basket of summer fruit, merchants waiting to cheat with false measures, and a famine of hearing the Lord’s words, with particular weight carried by LORD, famine, flood.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a…” The question slows the passage down. Notice who is being pressed to answer, what the question assumes, and whether the next lines provide a response.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD , that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
Amos 8:8-14
King James Version8Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.
9And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD , that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
10And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD , that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD :
12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD , and shall not find it.
13In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
14They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Amos 8:1 begins with “Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.”
Where the chapter turns
Amos 8:6 forms a natural hinge: “That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?”
The final note
Amos 8:14 leaves the reader with “They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beer-sheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words LORD, land, basket, famine, flood, fruit help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
Why does the waiting matter?
Noah receives signs of progress but does not confuse partial improvement with the completed deliverance.
What remains unchanged after the flood?
Human inclination toward evil remains, according to verse 21; preservation rests on God's commitment.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
- hath
- has
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.