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Amos 8:6

Poverty and the vulnerableMoney and wealth

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,

5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.

Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”

7 The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget any of their deeds.

8 Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.

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This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
Let us buy the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the chaff with the wheat!”
KJV
That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
WEB
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals, and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”
ASV
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
DARBY
that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; and that we may sell the refuse of the wheat.
BLB
to acquire the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, even selling the chaff with the wheat?”
ÅB
og kjøpe de ringe for penger og den fattige for et par sko og selge avfall av korn?
OTB
kjøper de fattige for sølv
og de trengende for et par sandaler,
og selger til og med avfallet av hveten.
B1930
og kjøpe de ringe for penger og den fattige for et par sko og selge avfall av korn?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Amos 2:6

    This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals.

    Read in context

  • Joel 3:6

    You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, to send them far from their homeland.

    Read in context

  • Joel 3:3

    They cast lots for My people; they bartered a boy for a prostitute and sold a girl for wine to drink.

    Read in context

  • Leviticus 25:39–42

    If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, then you must not force him into slave labor.

    Read in context

  • Amos 8:4

    Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,

    Read in context

  • Nehemiah 5:1–5

    About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews.

    Read in context

  • Nehemiah 5:8

    and said, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish brothers who were sold to foreigners, but now you are selling your own brothers, that they may be sold back to us!” But they remained silent, for they could find nothing to say.

    Read in context