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英文原文
Sinful times are here attended with sorrowful times, so necessary is the connexion between them; it is threatened here again and again that the laughter shall be turned into mourning. I. By the vision of "basket of summer-fruit" is signified the hastening on of the ruin threatened (Am 8:1-3) and that shall change their note. II. Oppressors are here called to an account for their abusing the poor; and their destruction is foretold, which will set them a mourning, Am 8:4-10. III. A famine of the word of God is here made the punishment of a people that go a whoring after other gods (Am 8:11-14); yet for this, which is the most mournful judgment of all, they are not here brought in mourning.
1-3
The Vision of Summer Fruit (785 BC)
夏天果子的異象（主前785年）
¹ 主耶和華指示我一件事。看哪，一筐夏天果子。
² 祂說：阿摩司啊，你看見甚麼？我說：一筐夏天果子。耶和華對我說：我民以色列的結局到了，我必不再寬恕他們。
³ 主耶和華說：那日，殿中的詩歌必變為哀號；各處必有許多屍首，人必把他們悄然扔出。
罪人之所以一日復一日地拖延悔改，最大的原因，是他們以為神也如此拖延祂的審判；他們最有效地把自己搖哄入睡所唱的歌，莫過於我的主人來得遲；因此神藉著先知屢次向以色列表明祂怒氣的日子不但公正確定，而且非常臨近、快速逼近；祂在這幾節經文中也是如此。
I. 那被威脅之毀滅的逼近，用阿摩司在異象中所見的一筐夏天果子來表示；因為主把它指示他（Am 8:1），又促使他留意觀看（Am 8:2）：阿摩司啊，你看見甚麼？請注意，我們確實看見了神樂意指示我們的、聽見了神樂意對我們說的，這是與我們息息相關的事；因為神有許多事說了、指示了一次，甚至兩次，世人卻不留意。我們是否處於全能者的異象之中？讓我們思想我們所看見的。他看見一筐夏天果子——已收好、預備好吃——這表示：1. 他們已熟透可被毀滅，熟得發爛，神該伸出祂審判的鐮刀把他們割去了；不，這事實際上已經做成，他們已擺在那裏預備被吞吃。2. 神忍耐之年正走向終結；對他們而言已是秋天，他們的一年快要在一個陰沉的冬天中完結。3. 我們所稱的夏天果子——不能存到冬天、必須立即使用的——正是這百姓的象徵：他們裏面沒有甚麼堅實或能持久的東西。
II. 這異象的用意和含義不過是：它表示我民以色列的結局到了。表示結局的希伯來文是 ketz，與表示夏天果子的 kitz 一詞極為相近。神長久寬容他們、忍受他們，如今祂的忍耐已到盡頭；他們確實是祂的民以色列，但他們的結局——那個他們屢屢被提醒、卻久久忘記的結局——如今到了。請注意，罪人若不終結罪惡，神就必終結他們，即使他們是祂的民以色列也是如此。Am 7:8所說的話在此被當作神已定的決意而重複：我必不再寬恕他們；他們不再如從前那樣被容忍，那將臨的審判也不再被收回。
III. 這事的後果將是普遍的荒涼（Am 8:3）：當結局來到時，憂傷和死亡必凱旋而行；它們慣於結伴同行，最終在天上不再有死亡，也不再有悲哀之時，必一同退去，Re 21:4。但在這個罪惡的世界、這個罪惡的國家中：1. 憂傷掌權——掌權到如此地步，以致殿中的詩歌必變為哀號——那是耶路撒冷神殿中的詩歌，或更可能指他們偶像廟宇中的詩歌——在那裏他們為尊崇金牛犢而吃喝之後，就起來玩耍。那些也許是放蕩褻瀆的歌；而那些歌遲早必變為哀號，這是肯定的。或者，即使那些詩歌有敬虔和宗教的實質和外表，卻因不是出於心、也不是為榮耀神而唱，神就不看重它們，而要公義地把它們變為哀號。請注意，罪的歡笑之後必有悲哀，甚至神聖的歡笑若不真誠也是如此。當神的審判通行之時，最大的喜樂很快會變為最大的沉重——那從前聽來如此悅耳的殿中之歌，不但變為嘆息呻吟，更變為聲嘶力竭的哀號，聽來陰森可怕。他們來到殿中，發現殿已成廢墟，就在那裏最痛切地哀號。2. 死亡掌權——掌權到如此地步，以致各處必有許多屍首（Ps 110:6）——被刀劍或瘟疫所殺的——如此之多，以致倖存者不能照喪禮的常規排場和莊重來埋葬他們；他們連喪鐘也不敲，就把他們悄然扔出——在深夜埋葬他們，並吩咐周圍一切人靜默、不可張揚——或因無力承擔喪葬費用，或因那致命的疫病有傳染性而無人願靠近，或因恐怕哀悼被殺之人會激怒仇敵。或者他們吩咐自己和彼此，在這些毀滅性的審判中默默順服神的手，不發怨言、不與神爭論。或者這不是忍耐的靜默，而是頑梗的靜默——他們的心剛硬了，這一切的審判也不能從他們口中逼出一句對神的公義或對自己的不義的承認。
英文原文
The Vision of Summer Fruit (785 BC)
¹ Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
² 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 upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
³ And 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.
The great reason why sinners defer their repentance de die in diem—from day to day, is because they think God thus defers his judgments, and there is no song wherewith they so effectually sing themselves asleep as that, My Lord delays his coming; and therefore God, by his prophets, frequently represents to Israel the day of his wrath not only as just and certain, but as very near and hastening on apace; so he does in these verses.
I. The approach of the threatened ruin is represented by a basket of summer-fruit which Amos saw in vision; for the Lord showed it to him (Am 8:1) and obliged him to take notice of it (Am 8:2): Amos, what seest thou? Note, It concerns us to enquire whether we do indeed see that which God has been pleased to show us, and hear what he has been pleased to say to us; for many a thing God speaks, God shows once, yea twice, and men perceive it not. Are we in the midst of the visions of the Almighty? Let us consider what we see. He saw a basket of summer-fruit gathered and ready to be eaten, which signified, 1. That they were ripe for destruction, rotten ripe, and it was time for God to put in the sickle of his judgments and to cut them off; nay, the thing was in effect done already, and they lay ready to be eaten up. 2. That the year of God's patience was drawing towards a conclusion; it was autumn with them, and their year would quickly have its period in a dismal winter. 3. Those we call summer-fruits that will not keep till winter, but must be used immediately, an emblem of this people, that had nothing solid or consistent in them.
II. The intent and meaning of this vision is no more than this: It signifies that the end has come upon my people Israel. The word that signifies the end is ketz, which is of near affinity with kitz, the word used for summer-fruit. God has long spared them, and borne with them, but now his patience is tired out; they are indeed his people Israel, but their end, that latter end they have been so often reminded of, but have so long forgotten, has now come. Note, If sinners do not make an end of sin, God will make an end of them, yea though they be his people Israel. What was said Am 7:8 is here repeated as God's determined resolution, I will not again pass by them any more; they shall not be connived at as they have been, nor the judgment coming turned away.
III. The consequence of this shall be a universal desolation (Am 8:3): When the end shall come sorrow and death shall ride in triumph; they are accustomed to go together, and shall at length go away together, when in heaven there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, Re 21:4. But here in a sinful world, in a sinful nation, 1. Sorrow reigns, reigns to such a degree that the songs of the temple shall be howlings—the songs of God's temple at Jerusalem, or rather of their idol-temples, where they used, when, in honour of the golden calves, they had eaten and drunk, to rise up to play. They were perhaps wanton profane songs; and it is certain that sooner or later those will be turned into howlings. Or, if they had a sound and show of piety and religion, yet, not coming from the heart, nor being sung to the glory of God, he valued them not, but would justly turn them into howlings. Note, Mourning will follow sinful mirth, yea, and sacred mirth too, it if be not sincere. And, when God's judgments are abroad, they will soon turn the greatest joy into the greatest heaviness, the temple-songs, which used to sound so pleasantly, not only into sighs and groans, but into loud howlings, which sound dismally. They shall come to the temple, and, finding that in ruins, there they shall howl most bitterly. 2. Death reigns, reigns to such a degree that there shall be dead bodies, many dead bodies in every place (Ps 110:6), slain by sword or pestilence, so many that the survivors shall not bury them with the usual pomp and solemnity of funerals; they shall not so much as have the bell tolled, but they shall cast them forth with silence, shall bury them in the dead of the night, and charge all about them to be silent and to take notice of it, either because they have not wherewithal to bear the charges of a funeral, or because, the killing disease being infectious, none will come near them, or for fear the enemy should be provoked, if they should be known to lament their slain. Or they shall charge themselves and one another silently to submit to the hand of God in these desolating judgments, and not to repine and quarrel with him. Or it may be taken not for a patient, but a sullen silence; their hearts shall be hardened, and all these judgments shall not extort from them one word of acknowledgment either of God's righteousness or their own unrighteousness.
4-10
The Sin and Doom of Oppressors (785 BC)
欺壓者的罪與結局（主前785年）
⁴ 你們這些吞吃窮乏人、使這地的貧寒人衰敗的，當聽這話。
⁵ 你們說：月朔幾時過去，我們好賣糧？安息日幾時過去，我們好擺出麥子？使伊法變小，使舍客勒變大，用詭詐的天平欺哄人，
⁶ 好用銀子買窮乏人，用一雙鞋換貧寒人，甚至賣麥子的渣滓？
⁷ 耶和華指著雅各的榮耀起誓說：他們的一切行為，我必永不忘記。
⁸ 地豈不為此震動，其中的居民豈不悲哀嗎？地必全然如尼羅河湧起，如同埃及的河被拋出淹沒。
⁹ 主耶和華說：到那日，我必使日頭在午間落下，使地在白晝變為黑暗。
¹⁰ 我必使你們的節期變為悲哀，你們的一切詩歌變為哀歌；我必使各人腰上圍上麻布，各人頭上光禿；我必使這事如喪獨子之日，其結局如痛苦的日子。
神在此與驕傲的欺壓者相爭，並向他們表明：
I. 他們所犯之罪的窮凶極惡；簡言之，他們具有那不義之官的特徵（Lu 18:2）——既不敬畏神，也不尊重人。
1. 觀察他們的宗教操練，你就會說：「他們對神毫無敬畏。」他們雖然邪惡，卻確實維持著敬虔的外表和形式；他們守安息日和月朔，在那幾日與別日之間有所分別，但他們很快就厭煩了，對那些日子毫無愛慕，因為他們的心完全放在世界和世界的事上。這裏所給他們的可悲寫照是——他們說：安息日幾時過去，我們好賣糧？這卻仍是許多稱為基督徒之人的寫照。（1.）他們厭煩安息日。「幾時才過去呢？」他們厭煩安息日和月朔的限制，巴不得它們快快過去，因為在其中不可做任何勞碌的工。他們厭煩安息日和月朔的工作或本分，對之嗤之以鼻（Mal 1:13），他們如同被留在耶和華面前的以東人多益一般（1Sa 21:7）；他們寧可在任何別的地方，也不願在神的祭壇旁。請注意，安息日和安息日的工作，對屬肉體的心而言是重擔——那樣的心總是怕為神和永恆做得太多。我們能把時間比與神相交花得更好嗎？我們花在與世界相交上的時間又有多少、何等愉快？在我們作完安息日之工、收其益處之前，安息日不就過去了嗎？那我們為何如此急於與它分別呢？（2.）他們愛慕趕集的日子：他們渴望賣糧和擺出麥子。他們在參與宗教事奉之時卻想著做生意；他們的心隨從貪婪（Eze 33:31），如此把天父的殿變成買賣之地，不，更成了賊窩。他們厭煩聖潔的本分，因為其間屬世的生意停滯了；在那方面他們如在水中之魚，在神的聖所中卻如旱地上的魚。請注意，愛趕集之日過於愛安息日、寧可賣糧不願敬拜神的人，是與神陌生、與自己為敵的。
2. 觀察他們的為人，你就會看見他們對人毫無顧念；這通常是前一樣的後果——那些失了敬虔之味的人，不久也不會保持普通誠實之感。他們既不行公義，也不愛憐憫。（1.）他們欺騙與他們交易的人。他們賣糧之時，無論在交貨還是在收錢上，都欺騙買方。他們用自己的量器量糧給他，假裝按他所約定的給他，卻使伊法變小——那量器短少、不合法定標準，他們就這樣在一方面欺騙他。他們收他的錢時，又必須用自己的秤和自己的砝碼來稱，而他們稱的舍客勒超過標準：他們使舍客勒變大，於是錢被發現太輕，必須再添；他們又在另一方面欺騙，而這一切都是在精確行公平的幌子和藉口之下作的。藉著這些惡行，人顯出對世界的貪婪、對自己的愛、對人類普遍的輕視、對與他們交易之特定人物的輕蔑，以及對神聖公義之律的藐視——這證明他們心中對那位明明說過虛假的天平和砝碼在祂眼中是可憎的神，既無敬畏也無愛慕。他們欺詐交易的另一個例子是賣麥子的渣滓——他們利用鄰舍的無知或困境，使他們以賣上好麥子的同樣價格來買那些渣滓。（2.）他們對窮人野蠻無情：他們吞吃窮乏人，使這地的貧寒人衰敗。[1.] 他們如此看重自己的財富，以致用所能想像的最高的輕蔑眼光看待一切窮人；他們恨惡窮人、不能忍受他們、離棄他們，因此盡力使他們消失——不是藉著救濟使他們不再貧窮，而是藉著驅逐和毀滅使他們不再存在，或至少不再存在於他們的地土上。但如此藐視窮人的，就是藐視造他的主——在祂手中富戶窮人相遇。[2.] 他們急於增加財富、使之更多，竟搶奪窮人來富裕自己；他們盯上窮人，要把他們當作獵物，因為窮人無力得到任何救濟，也無力抵抗或報復欺壓者的暴行。藉著窮人的毀滅而得的財富，必把毀滅帶給那些得著它的人。他們藉著與窮人作苛刻的交易、在交易中欺騙他們來吞吃窮人；因為因此他們用詭詐的天平欺哄——不但為了使自己富裕、有錢可使喚、（他們以為）就能使喚一切別的東西，更為了使周圍的人貧窮，把他們壓得如此之低，以致可以迫使他們成為奴隸，如此在榨乾了他們一切別的之後，就可以白白或幾乎白白地得著他們的勞力。如此，他們用銀子買窮乏人；他們因窮人買了糧卻無力償付，就把他們和他們的兒女賣為奴僕；見Ne 5:2-5。淪落到這般絕境的人如此之多，以致價錢極低；欺壓者把價錢壓得如此之低，以致你可以用一雙鞋的價錢買一個窮人作奴隸。財產先被侵犯，然後是自由；欺壓者的方法是先把人變成乞丐，再把人變成附庸。如此，人類本性的尊嚴在受踐踏者的悲慘中喪失了，而人類本性的溫柔也在踐踏者的罪惡中喪失了。
II. 因這罪必加在他們身上之刑罰的沉重。窮人受害之時必向神呼求，祂必聽他們的呼求，並與那些傷害他們的人算賬；因為他們是祂所收納的，祂把對他們所行的冤屈看作對自己行的，Ex 22:23-24。
1. 神必記念他們的罪來對付他們：祂指著雅各的榮耀起誓（Am 8:7）——就是指著自己，因為祂不能指著比自己更大的起誓；除了祂以外，誰是雅各的榮耀和威嚴呢？祂指著那些祂與他們同在、向施恩的記號起誓——那些記號被他們玷污濫用，他們盡力使之成為神所憎惡的；因為經上說（Am 6:8）祂憎惡雅各的榮華。祂在怒中起誓——指著祂的名起誓，那在以色列中如此為人所知、如此偉大的名。祂起誓說：他們的一切行為，我必永不忘記——而是在一切場合被記念來對付他們，因為這裏所暗示的比明說的更多。我必永不忘記，就等於說我必永不赦免；如此這些不義無情之人的案件就被宣告為實在悲慘——永遠悲慘；那被神的誓言從赦免之憐憫的一切益處中剪除之人有禍了，千萬個有禍了；那不施憐憫的人有理由畏懼那無憐憫的審判。
2. 祂必把徹底的毀滅和混亂傾倒在他們身上。這事在此被大量描述，並用了許多有力的表達，為要——若可能的話——使他們懼怕而真誠悔改歸正。（1.）必有普遍的恐懼和驚惶：地豈不為此震動（Am 8:8）——這塊你們想要把窮人趕出去的地豈不震動？其中的居民豈不悲哀嗎？他必定悲哀。請注意，那些不為國家的罪而適當戰兢悲哀的人，必被迫使為國家的審判而戰兢悲哀；那些漠然觀看欺壓者的罪——本該使之戰兢——又觀看受欺壓者的苦情——本該使之悲哀——的人，神必找到方法使他們在欺壓者的烈怒前戰兢，又為自己因之受的損失和苦難而悲哀。（2.）必有普遍的氾濫和荒涼。當神出來攻擊他們之時，患難和災禍的水必如尼羅河全然湧起——如河水被壩阻之時上漲，不久就漫過堤岸。一切都與他們為敵。他們以為可以用來阻止神審判之進展的，反使那審判漲得更高。審判必如水之迸發那樣闖出它的路。全地必被拋出、被淹沒、被置於水下，如同埃及地每年被其尼羅河的氾濫所淹沒一般。或者這些表達可能暗指神從前的一些審判。他們的毀滅必如尼羅河全然湧起——如同挪亞的洪水淹沒了全世界，照樣這事必淹沒全地；地必如埃及的河被拋出淹沒——如同法老和他的埃及人被埋葬於紅海之中——那紅海對他們而言就是埃及的河；這兩樣審判，正如這裏所威脅的一樣，都是耶和華所報應的強暴和欺壓之刑罰。
3. 它必使他們驚訝，在他們意想不到之時臨到（Am 8:9）：「我必使日頭在午間落下——正當日頭在最強盛、最光輝燦爛之時，在他們的正午——他們以為還有漫長的下午、至少還有半天好日子在前頭之時。地在白晝——正當一切都看來美好、充滿希望之時——變為黑暗。」如此我們一切受造之物的安慰和享受、甚至生命本身，都是何等不確定；健康和興旺的最高峰，往往證明就是疾病和逆境的下一步；約伯的日頭在午間落下；許多人在日子的中途被取去，他們的日頭在正午落下。在生命之中我們處於死亡之中。神的審判對那些在安逸中沉睡的人就是如此可怕；對他們而言如同日頭在午間落下；越是不被料到，就越使他們驚惶失措。當他們喊著平安穩妥之時，忽然的毀滅就來到，如同網羅一般臨到，Lu 21:35。
4. 它必改變他們的曲調，敗壞他們一切的歡樂（Am 8:10）：我必使你們的節期變為悲哀，正如（Am 8:3）殿中的詩歌變為哀號。請注意，罪人的歡樂和宴樂的結局就是沉重。正如正直人在黑暗中有光興起——使他們得喜樂油代替悲哀——照樣惡人在光明之中有黑暗臨到——使他們的歡笑變為悲哀，他們的喜樂變為沉重。那荒涼必如此之大、如此普遍，以致各人腰間圍上麻布，各人頭上光禿——取代他們從前所戴梳理整齊的頭髮和所穿華美的衣裳。那日的悲哀必如喪獨子之日——這表示最痛切、最持久的哀號。但是，當事情到了最壞的地步，難道就沒有好轉的希望、到了傍晚時分難道就仍有亮光嗎？沒有，甚至其結局也如痛苦的日子——一個痛苦的悲哀之日；不悔改的罪人的狀態每況愈下，而最後的將是最壞的。你們必從我手中受罰，你們必躺在悲傷之中。」
英文原文
The Sin and Doom of Oppressors (785 BC)
⁴ Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
⁵ 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?
⁶ That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
⁷ The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
⁸ Shall 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.
⁹ 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 darken the earth in the clear day:
¹⁰ And 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.
God is here contending with proud oppressors, and showing them,
I. The heinousness of the sin they were guilty of; in short, they had the character of the unjust judge (Lu 18:2) that neither feared God nor regarded man.
1. Observe them in their devotions, and you will say, "They had no reverence for God." Bad as they are, they do indeed keep up a show and form of godliness; they observe the sabbath and the new moon; they put some difference between those days and other days, but they were soon weary of them, and had no affection at all to them, for their hearts were wholly set upon the world and the things of it. It is a sad character which this gives of them, that they said, When will the sabbath be gone, that we may sell corn? Yet is still the character of many that are called Christians. (1.) They were weary of sabbath days. "When will they be gone?" They were weary of the restraints of the sabbaths and the new-moons, and wished them over because they might do no servile work therein. They were weary of the work or business of the sabbaths and new-moons, snuffed at it (Mal 1:13), and were, as Doeg, detained before the Lord (1Sa 21:7); they would rather have been any where else than about God's altars. Note, Sabbath days and sabbath work are a burden to carnal hearts, that are always afraid of doing too much for God and eternity. Can we spend our time better than in communication with God? And how much time do we spend pleasantly with the world? Will not the sabbath be gone before we have done the work of it and reaped the gains of it? Why then should we be in such haste to part with it? (2.) They were fond of market-days: they longed to be selling corn and setting forth wheat. When they were employed in religious services they were thinking of their marketings; their hearts went after their covetousness (Eze 33:31), and thus made my Father's house a house of merchandise, nay, a den of thieves. They were weary of holy duties because their worldly business stood still the while; in this they were as in their element, but in God's sanctuary as a fish upon dry ground. Note, Those are strangers to God, and enemies to themselves, that love market days better than sabbath days, that would rather be selling corn than worshipping God.
2. Observe them in their conversations, and you will see they have no regard to man; and this commonly follows upon the former; those that have lost the savour of piety will not long retain the sense of common honesty. They neither do justly nor love mercy. (1.) They cheat those they deal with. When they sell their corn they impose upon the buyer, both in giving out the goods and in receiving the money for them. They measure him the corn by their own measure, and pretend to give him what he agreed for, but they make the ephah small. The measure is scanty, and not statute-measure, and so they wrong him that way. When they receive his money they must weigh fit in their own scales, by their own weights, and the shekel they weigh by is above standard: They make the shekel great, so that the money, being found too light, must have more added to it; and so they cheat that way too, and this under colour and pretence of exactness in doing justice. By such wicked practices as these men show such a greediness of the world, such a love of themselves, such a contempt of mankind in general, of the particular persons they deal with, and of the sacred laws of justice, as prove them to have in their hearts neither the fear nor the love of that God who has so plainly said that false weights and balances are an abomination to him. Another instance of their fraudulent dealing is that they sell the refuse of the wheat, and, taking advantage of their neighbour's ignorance or necessity, make them take it at the same price at which they sell the finest of the wheat. (2.) They are barbarous and unmerciful to the poor: They swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land to fail. [1.] They valued themselves so much on their wealth that they looked upon all that were poor with the highest contempt imaginable; they hated them, could not endure them, but abandoned them, and therefore did what they could to make them cease, not by relieving them to make them cease to be poor, but by banishing and destroying them to make them cease to be, or at least to be in their land. But he who thus reproaches the poor despises his Maker, in whose hands rich and poor meet together. [2.] They were so eager to increase their wealth, and make it more, that they robbed the poor to enrich themselves; and they fastened upon the poor, to make a prey of them, because they were not able to obtain any redress nor to resist or revenge the violence of their oppressors. Those riches that are got by the ruin of the poor will bring ruin on those that get them. They swallowed up the poor by making them hard bargains, and cheating them in those bargains; for therefore they falsify the balances by deceit, not only that they may enrich themselves, may have money at command, and so may have every thing else (as they think) at command too, but that they may impoverish those about them, and bring them so low that they may force them to become slaves to them, and so, having drained them of every thing else, they may have their labour for nothing, or next to nothing. Thus they buy the poor for silver; they bring them and their children into bondage, because they have not wherewithal to pay for the corn they have bought; see Ne 5:2-5. And there were so many that they were reduced to this extremity that the price was very low; and the oppressors had beaten it down so that you might buy a poor man to be your slave for a pair of shoes. Property was first invaded and then liberty; it is the method of oppressors first to make men beggars and then to make them their vassals. Thus is the dignity of the human nature lost in the misery of those that are trampled on and the tenderness of it in the sin of those that trample on them.
II. The grievousness of the punishment that shall be inflicted on them for this sin. When the poor are injured they will cry unto God, and he will hear their cry, and reckon with those that are injurious to them, for, they being his receivers, he takes the wrongs done to them as done to himself, Ex 22:23,24.
1. God will remember their sin against them: He has sworn by the excellency of Jacob (Am 8:7), by himself, for he can swear by no greater; and who but he is the glory and magnificence of Jacob? He has sworn by those tokens of his presence with them, and his favour to them, which they had profaned and abused, and had done what they could to make them detestable to him; for he is said (Am 6:8) to abhor the excellency of Jacob. He swears in his wrath, swears by his own name, that name which was so well known and was so great in Israel. He swears, Surely I will never forget any of their works, but upon all occasions they shall be remembered against them, for more is implied than is expressed. I will never forget them is as much as to say, I will never forgive them; and then it proclaims the case of these unjust unmerciful men to be miserable indeed, eternally miserable; woe, and a thousand woes, to that man that is cut off by an oath of God from all benefit by pardoning mercy; and those have reason to fear judgment without mercy that have shown no mercy.
2. He will bring utter ruin and confusion upon them. It is here described largely, and in a great variety of emphatic expressions, that, if possible, they might be frightened into a sincere repentance and reformation. (1.) There shall be a universal terror and consternation: Shall not the land tremble for this (Am 8:8), this land, out of which you thought to drive the poor? Shall not every one mourn that dwells therein? Certainly he shall. Note, Those that will not tremble and mourn as they ought for national sins shall be made to tremble and mourn for national judgments; those that look without concern upon the sins of the oppressors, which should make them tremble, and upon the miseries of the oppressed, which should them mourn, God will find out a way to make them tremble at the fury of those that oppress them and mourn for their own losses and sufferings by it. (2.) There shall be a universal deluge and desolation. When God comes forth against them the waters of trouble and calamity shall rise up wholly as a flood, that swells, when it is dammed up, and soon overflows its banks. Every thing shall make against them. That with which they thought to check the progress of God's judgments shall but make them rise the higher. Judgments shall force their way as the breaking forth of waters. The whole land shall be cast out, and drowned, and laid under water, as the land of Egypt is every year by the overflowing of its river Nile. Or the expressions may allude to some former judgments of God. Their ruin shall rise up wholly as a flood, as Noah's flood, which overwhelmed the whole world, so shall this the whole land; and the land shall be cast out, and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt, as Pharaoh and his Egyptians were buried in the Red Sea, which was to them the flood of Egypt, both which judgments, as this which is here threatened, were the punishment of violence and oppression, which the Lord is the avenger of.
3. It shall surprise them, and come upon them when they little think of it (Am 8:9): "I will cause the sun to go down at noon, when it is in its full strength and lustre, at their noon, when they promise themselves a long afternoon, and think they have at least half a day good before them. The earth shall be darkened in the clear day, when every thing looks pleasant and hopeful." Thus uncertain are all our creature-comforts and enjoyments, even life itself; the highest degree of health and prosperity often proves the next degree to sickness and adversity; Job's sun went down at noon; many are taken away in the midst of their days, and their sun goes down at noon. In the midst of life we are in death. Thus terrible are the judgments of God to those that sleep in security; they are to them as the sun's going down at noon; the less they are expected the more confounding they are. When they cry Peace and safety then sudden destruction comes, comes as a snare, Lu 21:35.
4. It shall change their note, and mar all their mirth (Am 8:10): I will turn your feasts into mourning, as (Am 8:3) the songs of the temple into howlings. Note, The end of the sinner's mirth and jollity is heaviness. As to the upright there arises light in the darkness, which gives them the oil of joy for mourning, so on the wicked there falls darkness in the midst of light, which turns their laughter into mourning, their joy into heaviness. So great, so general, shall the desolation be, that sackcloth shall be brought upon all loins, and baldness upon every head, instead of the well-set hair and the rich garments they used to wear. The mourning at that day shall be as mourning for an only son, which denotes the most bitter and lasting lamentation. But are there then no hopes that when things are at the worst they will mend, and that at evening time it will yet be light? No, even the end thereof shall be as a bitter day, a day of bitter mourning; that state of impenitent sinners grows worse and worse, and the last of all will be the worst of all. This shall you have at my hand, you shall lie down in sorrow.
11-14
Spiritual Famine Threatened; Judgments Threatened (785 BC)
屬靈饑荒的威嚇；審判的威嚇（主前785年）
¹¹ 主耶和華說：看哪，日子將到，我必命饑荒降在地上。不是沒有餅吃、沒有水喝的饑荒，乃是不聽耶和華話語的饑荒。
¹² 人必飄流從這海到那海，從北到東，往來奔跑尋求耶和華的話，卻尋不著。
¹³ 當那日，美貌的處女和少年人必因乾渴發昏。
¹⁴ 那指著撒瑪利亞的罪起誓的，說：但啊，你的神活著！又說：別是巴的道路活著！這些人必跌倒，永不再起來。
在這些經文中，威嚇的是：
I. 將臨全地的屬靈饑荒之普遍審判——就是神話語的饑荒——神諭的斷絕和善道的稀少。這是作為稍遠之事而說的：日子將到——日後必到，那時另一種黑暗要臨到這光的國土。在阿摩司說預言之時，以及此後相當長的時間裏，他們有極多的先知，有豐富的機會聽神的話，無論得時不得時；他們有律上加律、線上加線；預言是他們日用的飲食；他們也許如以色列人對嗎哪生厭一般，對之厭膩了，所以神威脅日後要剝奪他們這特權。也許以色列地在他們的毀滅臨到之時，不如猶大地那樣有那麼多先知；當十支派被擄之時，他們看不見自己的記號，不再有先知，也無人指示他們要等到幾時，Ps 74:9。猶太教會在瑪拉基之後，許多世代沒有先知；有人認為這威脅看得更遠，指向彌賽亞的日子部分臨到以色列的瞎眼，以及不信的猶太人心上那層帕子。他們拒絕福音和神差到他們那裏的福音之僕人，卻貪求得著自己列祖那樣的先知，然而他們必得不著，因為神的國已從他們奪去，賜給別的百姓。請在此留意：
1. 所威脅的審判本身是甚麼。是饑荒、是缺乏——但不是餅和水的缺乏（那是身體必需的維持，其缺乏極其痛苦），而是一個比那更厲害的審判，就是不聽耶和華話語的饑荒。將沒有會眾供傳道人講道，也沒有傳道人講道，那些自立為傳道人的人也得不到教導和能力來使他們勝任其工。耶和華的話必珍貴稀少，沒有默示，1Sa 3:1。他們有寫下來的話語，有聖經可讀，卻沒有傳道人為他們講解和應用——井裏有水，卻沒有打水的器具。賽30:20有一個恩典的應許：他們雖缺少餅，卻必豐足地有恩典之手段。神雖以艱難給他們當餅、以困苦給他們當水，他們的眼睛卻必看見他們的教師；清教徒中有一句俗話：黑麵包加上福音就是好飲食。然而此處的威脅正相反——他們必有足夠的餅和水，教師卻被挪去。如今，（1.）這是他們國土上一大部份榮耀的離去。使這國偉大崇高的，是神的聖言交託給他們；但當這些被奪去，他們的美就玷污了，他們的尊榮被放於塵土之中。（2.）這是神對他們最大不悅的記號。當祂不再如從前那樣對他們說話，祂實在是對他們發怒了；當祂不再賜他們能領他們悔改的手段，祂就是把他們交給毀滅了。（3.）這使他們身上一切別的災難都真正令人憂傷——他們沒有先知從神的話語教導安慰他們，也不能給他們任何有盼望的前景。我們無論何時都會說，在患難之時更會說：神話語的饑荒是最厲害的饑荒，是最沉重的審判。
2. 這事的後果將會如何（Am 8:12）：人必飄流從這海到那海——從提比哩亞海到大海，從國的一邊到另一邊，要看神會否從別國藉海路或陸路差遣先知給他們；既然他們自己中間沒有，他們就從北到東去；在一處失望了就試另一處，並如同迷失和急切追尋的人一般往來奔跑，尋求耶和華的話——查問有沒有先知、有沒有預言、有沒有從神來的信息，卻尋不著。（1.）雖然對許多人而言這根本不是苦難，卻有人會深深感到這是一大痛苦，甘願遠行去聽一篇好道；他們卻要切實感到那些被人愚昧地以罪失去的憐憫之喪失。（2.）就是那些有先知時輕看先知的人，一旦失去了也必如掃羅尋找撒母耳一般渴望得著。許多人不到感到缺乏之時，不知憐憫的價值。或者這話也可以如此理解：他們雖如此飄流從這海到那海尋求神的話，卻尋不著。請注意，恩典之手段是可以移動的東西；燈臺在我們以為它站得最穩之時，也可能從原處被挪去（Re 2:5）；如今輕看人子之日的人，日後可能徒然想望見到那些日子。而在這饑荒之日，美貌的處女和少年人必因乾渴發昏（Am 8:13）——那些我們以為必能輕易忍受勞苦的人，也必在其下倒下。有人將處女和少年人理解為猶太教會和會堂的首領；他們必失去耶和華的話和神啟示的益處，因缺乏而發昏，失去一切力量和美貌。也有人將美貌的處女和精選的少年人理解為那些信靠自己功德和義、以為不需要基督的人；他們必因乾渴發昏，而那些飢渴慕義尋求基督之義的人卻必豐豐足足地得著飽足。
II. 那些帶頭拜偶像之人的特別毀滅，Am 8:14。請留意：1. 他們被控告的罪：他們指著撒瑪利亞的罪起誓——就是指著撒瑪利亞的神、在離撒瑪利亞不遠的伯特利所敬拜的偶像起誓。如此，他們以自己的羞恥為榮耀，以他們的罪為神來指著起誓，以為那必定毀滅他們的能幫助他們，又把最高的尊榮歸給他們本當極度憎惡厭棄的事物。他們說：但啊，你的神活著！——那是另一個金牛犊，一個啞巴木頭偶像，卻被撫摸稱頌，如同它是又真又活的神一般。他們又說：別是巴的道路活著！——他們指著別是巴的宗教，就是那裏所用的敬拜方式和習慣起誓。他們看之為神聖，所以指著它起誓，並以之為爭訟的審判官而上訴於它。天主教徒指著彌撒起誓，正如別是巴的道路一般。2. 他們被威脅的毀滅。那些如此把唯獨神當得的尊榮歸給偶像的人，必發現他們所冒犯的神因此成了他們的仇敵，所以他們必跌倒；而他們所事奉的神不能為他們撐腰作朋友，所以他們永不再起來。他們必發現神是忌邪的，必報應對祂所行的凌辱，又必得勝，與祂相爭是徒然的。
英文原文
Spiritual Famine Threatened; Judgments Threatened (785 BC)
¹¹ Behold, 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:
¹² And 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.
¹³ In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.
¹⁴ 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 again.
In these verses is threatened,
I. A general judgment of spiritual famine coming upon the whole land, a famine of the word of God, the failing of oracles and the scarcity of good preaching. This is spoken of as a thing at some distance: The days come, they will come hereafter, when another kind of darkness shall come upon that land of light. When Amos prophesied, and for a considerable time after, they had great plenty of prophets, abundant opportunities of hearing the word of God, in season and out of season; they had precept upon precept and line upon line; prophecy was their daily bread; and it is probable that they surfeited upon it, as Israel on the manna, and therefore God threatens that hereafter he will deprive them of this privilege. Probably in the land of Israel there were not so many prophets, about the time that their destruction came upon them, as there were in the land of Judah; and when the ten tribes went into captivity they saw not their signs, there were no more any prophets, none to show them how long, Ps 74:9. The Jewish church, after Malachi, had no prophets for many ages; and some think this threatening looks further yet, to the blindness which has in part happened to Israel in the days of the Messiah, and the veil that is on the heart of the unbelieving Jews. They reject the gospel, and the ministers of it that God sends to them, and covet to have prophets of their own, as their fathers had, but they shall have none, the kingdom of God being taken from them and given to another people. Observe here,
1. What the judgment itself is that is threatened. It is a famine, a scarcity, not of bread and water (which are the necessary support of the body, and the want of which is very grievous), but a much sorer judgment than that, even a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. There shall be no congregations for ministers to preach to, nor any ministers to preach, nor any instructions and abilities given to those that do set up for preachers, to fit them for their work. The word of the Lord shall be precious and scarce; there shall be no vision, 1Sa 3:1. They shall have the written word, Bibles to read, but no ministers to explain and apply it to them, the water in the well, but nothing to draw with. It is a gracious promise (Isa 30:20) that though they have a scarcity of bread they shall have plenty of the means of grace. God will give them the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, but their eyes shall see their teachers; and it was a common saying among the Puritans that brown bread and the gospel are good fare. But it is here a threatening that on the contrary they should have plenty enough of bread and water, and yet their teachers should be removed. Now, (1.) This was the departure of a great part of their glory from their land. This made their nation great and high, that to them were committed the oracles of God; but, when these were taken from them, their beauty was stained and their honour laid in the dust. (2.) This was a token of God's highest displeasure against them. Surely he was angry indeed with them when he would no more speak to them as he had done, and had abandoned them to ruin when he would no more afford them the means of bringing them to repentance. (3.) This made all the other calamities that were upon them truly melancholy, that they had no prophets to instruct and comfort them from the word of God, nor to give them any hopeful prospect. We should say at any time, and shall say in a time of trouble, that a famine of the word of God is the sorest famine, the heaviest judgment.
2. What will be the effect of this (Am 8:12): They shall wander from sea to sea, from the sea of Tiberias to the Great Sea, from one border of the country to another, to see if God will send them prophets, either by sea or land, from other countries; since they have none among themselves, they shall go from the north to the east; when they are disappointed in one place they shall try another, and shall run to and fro, as men at a loss, and in a hot pursuit to seek the word of the Lord, to enquire if there be any prophets, any prophecy, any message from God, but they shall not find it. (1.) Though to many this is no affliction at all, yet some will be very sensible of it as a great grievance, and will gladly travel far to hear a good sermon; but they shall sensibly feel the loss of those mercies which others have foolishly sinned away. (2.) Even those that slighted prophets when they had them shall wish for them as Saul did for Samuel, when they are deprived of them. Many never know the worth of mercies till they feel the want of them. Or it may be meant thus, Though they should thus wander from sea to sea, in quest of the word of God, yet shall they not find it. Note, The means of grace are moveable things; and the candlestick, when we think it stands most firmly, may be removed out of its place (Re 2:5); and those that now slight the days of the son of man may wish in vain to see them. And in the day of this famine the fair virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst (Am 8:13); those who, one would think, could well enough have borne the toil, shall sink under it. The Jewish churches, and the masters of their synagogues, some take to be meant by the virgins and the young men; these shall lose the word of the Lord, and the benefit of divine revelation, and shall faint away for want of it, shall lose all their strength and beauty. Those that trust in their own merit and righteousness, and think they have no need of Christ, others take to be meant by the fair virgins and the choice young men; they shall faint for thirst, when those that hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ shall be abundantly satisfied and filled.
II. The particular destruction of those that were ringleaders in idolatry, Am 8:14. Observe, 1. The sin they are charged with: They swear by the sin of Samaria, that is, by the god of Samaria, the idol that was worshipped at Bethel, not far off from Samaria. Thus did they glory in their shame, and swear by them as their god which was their iniquity, thinking that could help them which would certainly ruin them, and giving the highest honour to that which they should have looked upon with the utmost abhorrence and detestation. They say, Thy god, O Dan! liveth; that was the other golden calf, a dumb deal idol, and yet caressed and complimented as if it had been the living and true God. They say, The manner, or way, of Beer-sheba liveth; they swore by the religion of Beer-sheba, the way and manner of worship used there, which they looked upon as sacred, and therefore swore by and appealed to as a judge of controversy. Thus the papists swear by the mass, as the manner of Beer-sheba. 2. The destruction they are threatened with. Those who thus give that honour to idols which is due to God alone will find that the God they affront is thereby made their enemy, so that they shall fall, and the gods they serve cannot stand their friends, so that they shall never rise again. They will find that God is jealous and will resent the indignity done him, and that he will be victorious and it is to no purpose to contend with him.
罪惡的時代必有憂傷的時代相隨——兩者之間的關聯就是如此必然。此處屢屢威脅歡笑必變為悲哀。I. 藉著「夏天果子的筐」之異象，表示所威脅之毀滅的迅速逼近（Am 8:1-3），而那要改變他們的曲調。II. 欺壓者因虐待窮人而被追討；他們的毀滅被預告，那將使他們悲哀，Am 8:4-10。III. 神話語的饑荒被定為刑罰，加在一個隨從別神行淫的百姓身上（Am 8:11-14）；然而對於這最可悲的審判，此處卻沒有描繪他們為之悲哀的情景。