Amos 5:16–19

5:16 Because of Israel’s sins47 this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One,48 says:

“In all the squares there will be wailing,

in all the streets they will mourn the dead.49

They will tell the field workers50 to lament

and the professional mourners51 to wail.

5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,

for I will pass through52 your midst,” says the Lord.

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe53 to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable,54

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped55 into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

47	tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10–13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14–15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.
48	tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
49	tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’ ” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).
50	tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
51	tn Heb “those who know lamentation.” sn Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 180.
52	sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.
53	tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
54	tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
55	tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).