Deuteronomy 25:13

"Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small. A perfect and just weight shalt thou have, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have; that thy days may be long in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. For all that do such things, even all that do unrighteousness, are an abomination unto Jehovah thy God."

What is referred to here is the tools of the dishonest trader, the trader who bought by heavier weights and larger measures, and sold by the lighter weights and smaller measures. Such dishonesty was the universal practice of the Canaanite, and the Jews quickly learned it from those whom they displaced in that land. In time, Israel itself became, in this regard, only "another Canaanite." In Amos 8:5, the Jewish traders stated in the presence of Amos that they desired the removal of the sabbath day that they might set forth wheat, "making the ephah (the measure) small, and the shekel great." The promise here, "that thy days may be long in the land," is not so much a promise to individuals as it is to all of Israel, that if they would refrain from the wicked practices of the Canaanites that Israel would be continued in the promised land for a much longer time. It was precisely because they failed to heed such warnings that God finally removed them, when they were carried away by the Assyrians. Hosea 12:7 has, "He (Ephraim) is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand." Ward tells us that, "The word here rendered `trafficker' is actually `Canaanite.'"[18] Thus, the Israelites themselves were gradually transformed through following the Canaanites in their wickedness, becoming at last "Canaanites" themselves! (See more on this in Vol. 2 in my commentary on the minor prophets, pp. 198,199.)

The sin of cheating customers through the use of dishonest weights and measures is widespread in every country of the world this very day. The very existence of such government agencies as the Bureau of Weights and Measures, and the constant staff of inspectors in every state to enforce the laws in this area speak eloquently of the prevalence of the problem.