Amos 5:16-17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Amos 5:16-17
The LORD's Passing Brings Public Lament
Wailing in the streets and the vineyards
Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, says wailing shall be in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! Alas! The husbandman is called to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. Ordinary workers and practiced mourners share one public grief.
In all vineyards there shall be wailing. Productive, festive space becomes a funeral. Judgment is not a private inconvenience for elites. It reaches the places where people walk, work, and harvest.
For I will pass through thee
The LORD's passing through explains the universal lament. The language can recall Exodus judgment, now turned on a people who assumed covenant identity would mean favorable intervention. It is not a pleasant worship experience or an automatic revival slogan.
This passing prepares the next oracle: those who desire the day of the LORD are about to learn it is darkness. Public mourning does not prove that every mourner has identical guilt. The scene does not authorize delight in casualties imagined as God's enemies.
How this should shape us
Make dignified public space for grief when communal harm is exposed. Let the powerful mourn rather than posture triumph. After preventable deaths, meet affected families and tell the truth before promoting recovery claims. Do not brand catastrophe as proof of spiritual superiority.
Teach it back
Explain Amos 5:16-17 in your own words. Include its place in Amos's judgment-restoration movement, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The Exodus echo, precise performance setting, and relation of professional mourning to the oracle are discussed; public, pervasive lament is clear.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Amos 5:16-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 5:16-17
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1713-1716, translation and notes on 5:16-17
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 585-587, discussion of 5:16-17
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Amos 5:16-17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Amos
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clause relationships, wordplays, names, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Amos.xml, 5:16-17
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Amos with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, textual, literary, historical, and uncertainty notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Amos PDF, printed pp. 1713-1716, translation and notes on 5:16-17
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Amos
Jennifer M. Dines
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, eighth-century horizon, literary boundaries, composition, and verse-level alternatives.
Exact location: Dines, 'Amos,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 585-587, discussion of 5:16-17
Open source ↗