Like the preceding section, this portion has a vision followed by a related message about God’s approaching judgment of Israel. In this vision the prophet notices a basket of ripe summer fruit, indicating that it is harvest time (8:1–3). The interpretation of the vision is that the time is ripe for God to harvest the fruit in the nation of Israel; thus its end is near. The statement “I will spare them no longer” (8:2) connects this vision with the earlier plumb line vision, which had the same warning. This evaluative statement indicates that there will be some dire consequences, because God’s assessment of this fruit is very negative. Verse 3 explains what will happen. God paints a word picture in which dead bodies are lying everywhere, even defiling the temple area, because the gods that…