Daily Scripture: Amos 8:1-7
1 This is what the Sovereign LORD showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. 2 “What do you see, Amos?” he asked.
“A basket of ripe fruit,” I answered.
Then the LORD said to me, “The time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
3 “In that day,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “the songs in the temple will turn to wailing. Many, many bodies—flung everywhere! Silence!”
4 Hear this, you who trample the needy
and do away with the poor of the land,
5 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,
6 buying the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling even the sweepings with the wheat.
7 The LORD has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
Read additional translations at Biblegateway.com or youversion.com
Reflection Questions:
The wealthy merchants of Israel no doubt saw Amos as a rural bumpkin (Amos 1:1) who just didn’t “get” what it took to make it in business. But Amos spoke for God. God saw actions like exploiting the poor or using short weights and measures as a spiritual issue. There was no unique “business” part of life where spiritual values didn’t apply.
- Amos lived in a world without standard measures. The principles he taught, though, apply as much today as in his day. What modern practices have you seen that fit the words “we make the measures small and the price of things big”? In what areas are you tempted to think, “The bottom line is all that matters”?
- Beyond plain fraud, Amos confronted these pious people (8:3) about how they “trampled the needy.” What “legal” things do you see, on any scale from private to global, which trample and seek to do away with the poor? How can you act to help “justice and righteousness roll on like a river” (Amos 5:24)?
Read Pastor Russell Brown’s insights on today’s scripture at gpsinsights.wordpress.com
Weekly Prayer:
Lord God, the Scripture story tells me that you created this beautiful world I live in with the resources to sustain life. It says that you mean my work, whether at home, at church or in my workplace, to be a vocation, a source of meaning and challenge. Give me your wisdom to make good choices, Lord, and to balance my work and my rest in you. Amen.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, TODAY’S NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.
