Amos 5:16

Amos 5:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
• New International Version (NIV)Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says: “There will be wailing in all the streets and cries of anguish in every public square. The farmers will be summoned to weep and the mourners to wail.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: "In all the squares there shall be wailing, and in all the streets they shall say, 'Alas! Alas!' They shall call the farmers to mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, says this: “There shall be wailing in all streets, And they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They shall call the farmer to mourning, And skillful lamenters to wailing.

Context of Amos 5:16

14Seek good and not evil, that you may live; And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! 15Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of hosts May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord, “There is wailing in all the plazas, And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They also call the farmer to mourning And professional mourners to lamentation. 17And in all the vineyards there is wailing, Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord. 18Alas, you who are longing for the day of the Lord, For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you? It will be darkness and not light;

Amos 5:16 word by word

לָ֠כֵן כֹּֽה־אָמַ֨ר יְהוָ֜ה אֱלֹהֵ֤י צְבָאוֹת֙ אֲדֹנָ֔י בְּכָל־רְחֹב֣וֹת מִסְפֵּ֔ד וּבְכָל־חוּצ֖וֹת יֹאמְר֣וּ הוֹ־ה֑וֹ וְקָרְא֤וּ אִכָּר֙ אֶל־אֵ֔בֶל וּמִסְפֵּ֖ד אֶל־י֥וֹדְעֵי נֶֽהִי׃Read the interlinear

• Thereforeכֵּןkên · soH3651
• thusכֹּהkôh · thusH3541
• saysאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• of hostsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · HostsH6635
• the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• wailingמִסְפֵּדmispêd · mourningH4553
• in allכֹּלkôl kôl · allH3605
• the plazasרְחוֹבrechôb rechôb · street/plazaH7339
• the streetsחוּץchûts chûts · outsideH2351
• Alasהוֹhô · Ah!H1930
• They also callקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call outH7121
• farmerאִכָּר'ikkâr · farmerH406
• to mourningאֵ֫בֶל'êbel · mourningH60
• professionalיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• to lamentationנְהִיnehîy · wailingH5092

Cross-references for Amos 5:16

• Amos 5:27Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
• Amos 3:13Hear and testify against the house of Jacob,” Declares the Lord God, the God of hosts.
• Amos 8:10Then I will turn your festivals into mourning And all your songs into lamentation; And I will bring sackcloth on everyone’s loins And baldness on every head. And I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, And the end of it will be like a bitter day.
• Isaiah 15:2They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba; Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.
• Isaiah 22:12Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 4:31For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child, The cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath, Stretching out her hands, saying, “Ah, woe is me, for I faint before murderers.”
• Jeremiah 9:10“For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.
• Joel 1:8Wail like a virgin girded with sackcloth For the bridegroom of her youth.
• Micah 1:8Because of this I must lament and wail, I must go barefoot and naked; I must make a lament like the jackals And a mourning like the ostriches.
• Micah 2:4On that day they will take up against you a taunt And utter a bitter lamentation and say, ‘We are completely destroyed! He exchanges the portion of my people; How He removes it from me! To the apostate He apportions our fields.’
• Revelation 18:10standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’
• Jeremiah 9:17Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wailing women, that they may come!

Commentaries on Amos 5:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16They shall call the husbandman to mourning - Because the crops have failed, and the ground has been tilled in vain. Such as are skillful of lamentation - See the note on Jeremiah 9:17.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Therefore the Lord, the God of Hosts, the Lord - For the third time in these three last verses Amos again reminds them, by whose authority he speaks, His who had revealed Himself as “I am,” the self-existent God, God by nature and of nature, the Creator and Ruler and Lord of all, visible or invisible, against their false gods, or fictitious substitutes for the true God. Here, over and above those titles, “He is,” that is, He alone is, the “God of Hosts…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-17Verses 7-17 The same almighty power can, for repenting sinners, easily turn affliction and sorrow into prosperity and joy, and as easily turn the prosperity of daring sinners into utter darkness. Evil times will not bear plain dealing; that is, evil men will not. And these men were evil men indeed, when wise and good men thought it in vain even to speak to them. Those who will seek and love that which is good, may help to save the land from ruin. It…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16The farmer … and the mourners: This expression vividly describes widespread grief. It means that everyone would mourn, from ordinary workers like farmers to people whose job was to mourn at funerals.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Therefore--resumed from Am 5:13. God foresees they will not obey the exhortation (Am 5:14, 15), but will persevere in the unrighteousness stigmatized (Am 5:7, 10, 12). the Lord--Jehovah. the God of hosts, the Lord--an accumulation of titles, of which His lordship over all things is the climax, to mark that from His judgment there is no appeal. streets ... highways--the broad open spaces and the narrow streets common in the East. call the husbandman to…Read the comment

Topics related to Amos 5:16

• Famine
• Judgments
• Weeping

In the dictionaries

• God
• Manifold
• Seek
• Burial
• Groan
• Husbandman; Husbandry
• Mourning

Commentaries on Amos 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings