Amos 5:16

¹⁴ Seek good, not evil, so that you may live. And the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be with you, as you have claimed.

¹⁵ Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.

¹⁷ There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.

¹⁸ Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail.
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.
WEB: Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: “Wailing will be in all the wide ways. They will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
ASV: Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing.
DARBY: Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
BLB: Therefore, thus says YHWH God of Hosts, the Lord: “In all the public squares [will be] wailing, and in all the streets they will say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ And they will call the farmer to mourning, and those knowing lamentation to wailing,

ÅB: Derfor sier Herren, Israels Gud, hærskarenes Gud, så: På alle gater skal det høres klagerop, og i alle streder skal de rope: Ve, ve! Bonden skal kalles til sørgehøytid, og til dem som er kyndige i sørgekveder, skal de si: Syng en sørgesang!
OTB: Derfor, dette er hva Herren, Herren Gud Allmektig, sier:
"Det vil være klage i alle gatene
og skrik av angst på hvert torg.
Bøndene vil bli kalt til å sørge,
og de profesjonelle sørgerne til klagesang.
B1930: Derfor sier Herren, Israels Gud, hærskarenes Gud, så: På alle gater skal det høres klagerop, og i alle streder skal de rope: Ve, ve! Bonden skal kalles til sørgehøitid, og til dem som er kyndige i sørgekveder, skal de si: Syng en sørgesang!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Joel 1:11
Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.
Read in context
Jeremiah 9:17–20
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.
Read in context
Jeremiah 9:10
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard. Both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled; they have gone away.
Read in context
Revelation 18:15–16
The merchants who sold these things and grew their wealth from her will stand at a distance, in fear of her torment. They will weep and mourn,
Read in context
Micah 1:8
Because of this I will lament and wail; I will walk barefoot and naked. I will howl like a jackal and mourn like an ostrich.
Read in context
Isaiah 15:2–5
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
Read in context
Jeremiah 4:31
For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”
Read in context
Amos 8:10
I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
Read in context