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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may market wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel large, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit;
- KJV 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?
- NKJV Saying: “When will the New Moon be past, That we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat? Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit,
- NASB saying, “When will the new moon be over, So that we may sell grain; And the Sabbath, so that we may open the wheat market, To make the ephah smaller and the shekel bigger, And to cheat with dishonest scales,
- NLT You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The merchants resent holy days that interrupt business and cheat customers with false measures and weights. Their religion is a mask over their love of dishonest gain.
Overview
They observe new moon and Sabbath outwardly while inwardly chafing to resume defrauding the poor with skewed scales. Their hearts despise God's rest and worship, valuing profit above all. This hypocrisy exposes the hollowness of religion without integrity, the very thing Christ condemns and his gospel transforms from within.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Neh 13:15–21In those days I saw people in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, along with wine, grapes, and figs. All kinds of goods were being brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. So I warned them against selling food on that day.
- Hos 12:7A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
- Mic 6:10–11Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?
- Deut 25:13–16You shall not have two differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light.
- Lev 19:36You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
- Prov 16:11Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.
- Prov 20:23Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
- Exod 20:8–10Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
- Isa 1:13Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me—your New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations. I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
- Prov 11:1Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, but an accurate weight is His delight.
- Num 10:10And on your joyous occasions, your appointed feasts, and the beginning of each month, you are to blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to serve as a reminder for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”
- 2 Kgs 4:23“Why would you go to him today?” he replied. “It is not a New Moon or a Sabbath.” “Everything is all right,” she said.
- Ezek 45:10–12You must use honest scales, a just ephah, and a just bath.
- Ps 81:3–4Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and at the full moon on the day of our Feast.
- Num 28:11–15At the beginning of every month, you are to present to the LORD a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old, all unblemished,
- Isa 58:13If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath, from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable, if you honor it by not going your own way or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,
- Mal 1:13You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD.
- Col 2:16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
- Rom 8:6–7The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,
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Christ at the center
Amid judgment on injustice, Amos promises the raising up of David's fallen tent — read by James in Acts 15 as the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
How Amos 8:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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