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1Thus the Lord Yahweh showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit.

2He said, “Amos, what do you see?”

I said, “A basket of summer fruit.”

Then Yahweh said to me,

“The end has come on my people Israel.

I will not again pass by them any more.

3The songs of the temple will be wailing in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh.

“The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.

4Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy,

and cause the poor of the land to fail,

5saying, ‘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;

6that we may buy the poor for silver,

and the needy for a pair of sandals,

and sell the sweepings with the wheat?’”

7Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob,

“Surely I will never forget any of their works.

8Won’t the land tremble for this,

and everyone mourn who dwells in it?

Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River;

and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.

9It will happen in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh,

“that I will cause the sun to go down at noon,

and I will darken the earth in the clear day.

10I will turn your feasts into mourning,

and all your songs into lamentation;

and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies,

and baldness on every head.

I will make it like the mourning for an only son,

and its end like a bitter day.

11Behold, the days come,” says the Lord Yahweh,

“that I will send a famine in the land,

not a famine of bread,

nor a thirst for water,

but of hearing Yahweh’s words.

12They will wander from sea to sea,

and from the north even to the east;

they will run back and forth to seek Yahweh’s word,

and will not find it.

13In that day the beautiful virgins

and the young men will faint for thirst.

14Those who swear by the sin of Samaria,

and say, ‘As your god, Dan, lives,’

and, ‘As the way of Beersheba lives,’

they will fall, and never rise up again.”

Biography of Jacob

Biography of Jacob

Biography | Amos 8:7 | Hershel Wayne House

Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebekah, born immediately after Esau, and Abraham was his grandfather. He achieved the right of the firstborn by trickery, in offering his older brother, Esau, food in exchange for the birthright, who cared little for this position. He also received the blessing of firstborn from his father Jacob before his death by cunning, and with the assistance of his mother Rebekah.

After his deception of Esau, receiving the blessing from his father, Jacob escaped to his uncle Laban, who in turn deceived Jacob into working for fourteen years for the marriage of Jacob to Leah, and then his beloved Rachel. Laban also sought to deceive Jacob of wages, but God intervened to ensure he would prosper. In a time of trial, when he feared the wrath of Esau, upon returning to the land of Canaan, Jacob had an encounter with God, and his name was changed to Israel, the one who wrestles with God. Even though his early life was characterized by deception, God worked through the situation to ensure that Jacob would be the one in the line of the patriarchs, to create a great nation and ultimately fulfill His purposes in the earth, especially through the future Messiah. The Messiah would guarantee the promise of the land to Abram and a person who would rule over Abraham's descendants, but also He would bring blessings to all the people of the earth (Gen 12:1-3).

In spite of Jacob's early failure by deception, God worked through him, and finally, Jacob became a different type of man after his struggle with God. As one has said,

"Despite Jacob’s faults, God chose him to be the leader of a great nation that still bears his name today. But for this, it is unlikely that we would know much about Jacob, who appears to be in the middle of events while the key players are those around him. There is no great wisdom or bravery in Jacob to speak of, and we are tempted to see him as little more than God’s passive instrument. If we are tempted to think that, because we aren’t in the spotlight performing great acts for God, we are unimportant to Him, then we should consider the life of Jacob and know that, in spite of our failings, God can and will still use us in His plan."

For more on Jacob, see "Who was Jacob in the Bible?", https://www.gotquestions.org/life-Jacob.html