Amos 8:6

"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;"

Key Reflection

This passage reveals the spiritual decay of Israel, where the people are so consumed by greed that they eagerly await the end of holy days to engage in fraudulent business practices. The new moon and Sabbath were times set aside for rest and worship; their desire to exploit these days shows a disregard for God’s commandments in favor of personal gain through deceitful measures.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

That we may buy -Or, indignantly, “To buy the poor!” literally, “the afflicted,” those in “low” estate. First, by dishonesty and oppression they gained their lands and goods. Then the poor were obliged to sell themselves. The slight price, for which a man was sold, showed the more contempt for “the image of God.” Before, he said, “the needy” were “sold for a pair of sandals”Amos 2:6; here, that they were bought for them. It seems then the more likely that such was a real price for man. And sell the refuse -Literally, the “falling of wheat,” that is, what fell through the sieve, either the bran, or the thin, unfilled, grains which had no meal in them.

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