Amos 8:5
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? 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?
The verse portrays traders who resent the new moon and the Sabbath because those sacred pauses stop their selling of grain, leaving them impatient for the holy time to end so that trade can resume. Their eagerness is not neutral waiting but a greedy desire to get back to profit at the buyers' expense.
Their cheating takes three related forms: making the ephah small to give short measure, making the shekel great to inflate the price, and falsifying the balances to deceive buyers of corn and wheat. The setting is ordinary business dealings in grain turned into exploitation of the poor, exposing greed and deceit and disregard for the needy. Keeping religious observances while failing to practice justice stands condemned, since outward regard for new moon and Sabbath is worthless without honest dealing.
Christ hates false weights and measures and knows every person concerned in such dishonesty. He calls His people to unify and to love one another and to deal honestly and justly and truly with one another. That call means coming into close connection with Him and giving Him room among them, instead of trying to reform by pointing at the wrongs of someone else, manifesting hatred, and speaking unjust sayings.