(a) Amos' Vision of a Basket of Ripe Fruit (Amos 8:1-10):
(i) God showed Amos a basket of ripe fruit which represents harvest time/ripe fruit quickly deteriorates.
(ii) The Lord told Amos that the end had come, and that Israel would no longer be spared. So, Israel was ripe for punishment.
(iii) The songs of the temple would turn to wailings.
(iv) There would be many dead bodies in every place.
(v) The evil deeds of the people would never be forgotten.
(vi) For example: Those who took advantage of the needy, those who cheated even during the Sabbath.
(vii) The Lord would make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad-day light
(viii) Theft feasts would be turned into mourning, and their songs into lamentation.-
(ix) The Lord would bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness on every head.
(x) God would send famine on the land.
(xi) Virgins and young men would faint for thirst.
(xii) The Word of God would be rare in those days
(xiii) The young men and women would become weary and faint in their search for the Word of God
(xiv) Judgment would come on them because they have sinned against God by trampling on the poor and the needy.

(b) Practices condemned by Amos:
(i) Lip-service to religion /empty religion.
(ii) Observation of Holy Days i.e. Sabbath, New Moon festivals/Godless shrines.
(iii) False swearing.
(iv) The wealthy selling the poor for a pair of sandals/oppression of the poor by the father and son.
(v) Prostitution- father and son going in for the same woman.
(vi) The use of false weights and measures by the rich cheating in business.
(vii) Women feeding fat on the proceeds of their husband's oppression of the poor.
(viii) Corrupt courts of law/the poor had no fair trial in the courts
(ix) Luxury of the rich at the expense of the poor.