Amos 5:16
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
Therefore, this is what the Lord, the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, says: “There will be crying in all the public squares and mourning in every street. Call for the farmers to weep with you, and summon professional mourners to wail.

English Standard Version
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,

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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 King James Version
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.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore this is what the LORD God of armies, the Lord says: “There is mourning in all the public squares, And in all the streets they say, ‘Oh no! Oh no!’ They also call the farmer to mourning And professional mourners to mourning rites.

NASB 1995
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.

NASB 1977
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.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore thus says Yahweh 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 weepers to wailing.

Amplified Bible
Therefore, thus says the LORD God of hosts, the Lord, “There is wailing in all the public plazas, And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died] And professional mourners to wailing.

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore the LORD, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mourners to wail.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore Yahweh, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: There will be wailing in all the public squares; they will cry out in anguish in all the streets. The farmer will be called on to mourn, and professional mourners to wail.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because thus says LORD JEHOVAH God The Almighty One: ‘in all the streets, lamentations! And among all broad places they shall say, Woe, Woe! And they shall call the ploughman to grieving and to lamentations and those who know lamentations

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore thus saith the Lord God Almighty; In all the streets shall be lamentations; and in all the ways shall it be said, Woe, woe! the husbandman shall be called to mourning and lamentation, and to them that are skilled in complaining.

Contemporary English Version
This is what the LORD has sworn: Noisy crying will be heard in every town and street. Even farmers will be told to mourn for the dead, together with those who are paid to mourn.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore thus saith the Lord the God of hosts the sovereign Lord: In every street there shall be wailing: and in all places that are without, they shall say: Alas, alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to lament.

English Revised Version
Therefore thus saith the LORD, 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 of lamentation to wailing.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is what the LORD, the Almighty God of Armies, says: There will be loud crying in every city square, and people will say in every street, "Oh, no!" They will call on farmers to mourn and on professional mourners to cry loudly.

Good News Translation
And so the Sovereign LORD Almighty says, "There will be wailing and cries of sorrow in the city streets. Even farmers will be called to mourn the dead along with those who are paid to mourn.

International Standard Version
Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says: 'There will be dirges in all of the streets; and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish. They will call the farmer to mourning and those who lament to grieve.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore thus saith the LORD, The God of hosts, the Lord: Lamentation shall be in all the broad places, And they shall say in all the streets: 'Alas! alas!' And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, And proclaim lamentation to such as are skilful of wailing.

Literal Standard Version
Therefore, thus said YHWH, God of Hosts, the Lord: “Lamentation is in all broad places, | And in all out-places they say, Oh! Oh! And called the farmer to mourning, | And the skillful of wailing to lamentation.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord: In every square there shall be lamentation, and in every street they shall cry, “Oh, no!” They shall summon the farmers to wail and the professional mourners to lament.

NET Bible
Because of Israel's sins this is what the LORD, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, says: "In all the squares there will be wailing, in all the streets they will mourn the dead. They will tell the field workers to lament and the professional mourners to wail.

New Revised Standard Version
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 those skilled in lamentation, to wailing;

New Heart English Bible
Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts: "Wailing will be in all the broad ways; and they will say in all the streets, 'Alas. Alas.' and they will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.

Webster's Bible Translation
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 skillful in lamentation to wailing.

World English Bible
Therefore Yahweh, 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.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Lord, In all broad places is lamentation, And in all out-places they say, 'Alas, alas,' And called the husbandman to mourning, And to lamentation the skilful of wailing.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Day of the LORD
16Therefore 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. 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD.…

Cross References
2 Chronicles 35:25
Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the choirs of men and women sing laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.

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.

Jeremiah 9:17
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: "Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them.

Jeremiah 9:18
Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water.

Jeremiah 30:5
Yes, this is what the LORD says: "A cry of panic is heard--a cry of terror, not of peace.

Hosea 4:3
Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.

Joel 1:11
Be dismayed, O farmers, wail, O vinedressers, over the wheat and barley, because the harvest of the field has perished.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the LORD, said thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the farmer to mourning, and such as are skillful of lamentation to wailing.

the Lord.

Amos 5:27
Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.

Amos 3:13
Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,

Wailing.

Amos 8:10
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

Isaiah 15:2-5,8
He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off…

Isaiah 22:12
And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

such.

Jeremiah 9:17-19
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: …

Jump to Previous
Alas Armies Broad Farmer Highways Hosts Husbandman Lamentation Mourners Mourning Places Skilful Skillful Streets Wailing Ways
Jump to Next
Alas Armies Broad Farmer Highways Hosts Husbandman Lamentation Mourners Mourning Places Skilful Skillful Streets Wailing Ways
Amos 5
1. A lamentation for Israel.
4. An exhortation to repentance.
21. God rejects their hypocritical service.














(16) Therefore.--Probably a pause occurs here, for once more the words of the prophet assume a more mournful tone. "Therefore" points back to the transgressions condemned in Amos 5:11-13. On the Divine name "Lord of hosts," see note on Hosea 12:5, and Oehler, Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, ?? 194-8. It is a grand phrase to denote the antithesis. between "the Portion of Jacob," and all heathen deities.

The "streets" are the open wide squares near the gates, and the "highways" are more properly the narrow alleys of the crowded cities of the Easu. The word for wailing (misp?d) denotes properly the beating of the breast, the Oriental symptom of grief. The calling of the husbandman from his agricultural pursuits to lamentation is an indication that the disaster was universal. Those "skilled in wailing" were generally, and are still, women who tear their hair and dress, throw dust over the head, and utter the monotonous wail and piercing cry of distress. The last clause should properly be inverted, And wailing to such as are skilful of lamentation. (Ecclesiastes 12:5; Jeremiah 9:17-19.

Pass through thee.--Properly through the midst of thee. Whenever Jehovah is said to pass through a land or a city, heavy punishment is intended. (Comp. Exodus 12:12.) The reference to the "vineyards" adds to the terror of the picture. . . .

Verses 16, 17. - The retribution for their incorrigible iniquity is here announced. For "they that would not be reformed by that correction, wherein he dallied with them, shall feel a judgment worthy of God" (Wisd. 12:26). Verse 16. - Therefore. The prophet returns to what was said in ver. 13 about the uselessness of reproof; yore. 14 and 15 being a kind of parenthetical exhortation which his love for his nation forced from him. "Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord," Adonai, saith what follows, these solemn titles being used to add solemnity, certainty, and weight to the announcement. Wailing; misped, "the death wail." Streets; broad places; πλατείαις (Septuagint); plateis (Vulgate). Highways; the narrower streets; ὁδοῖς (Septuagint); in cunctis quae foris sunt (Vulgate). Everywhere in town and country shall the wail be heard. Alas! alas! ho! ho! This is the death wail (comp. Jeremiah 22:18), which should sound abroad when Samaria was besieged and taken. They shall call the husbandman to mourning. The husbandman shall be called from his labour in the fields to mourn for a calamity in his house. Pusey thinks the mourning is for his occupation gone, his tillage now only furnishing food for the enemy; but the context involves the notion of death. And such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing; literally, proclaim wailing to such, etc. These are the hired mourners, both male and female, who sang mournful songs at deaths (comp. 2 Chronicles 35:25; Jeremiah 9:17; Matthew 9:23).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore
לָ֠כֵן (lā·ḵên)
Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

this is what
כֹּֽה־ (kōh-)
Adverb
Strong's 3541: Like this, thus, here, now

the LORD,
יְהוָ֜ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

the God
אֱלֹהֵ֤י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of Hosts,
צְבָאוֹת֙ (ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)
Noun - common plural
Strong's 6635: A mass of persons, reg, organized for, war, a campaign

the Lord,
אֲדֹנָ֔י (’ă·ḏō·nāy)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 136: The Lord

says:
אָמַ֨ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“There will be wailing
מִסְפֵּ֔ד (mis·pêḏ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4553: A lamentation

in all
בְּכָל־ (bə·ḵāl)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the public squares
רְחֹב֣וֹת (rə·ḥō·ḇō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 7339: A broad open place, plaza

and cries of
יֹאמְר֣וּ (yō·mə·rū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

‘Alas,
הוֹ־ (hōw-)
Interjection
Strong's 1930: Oh!

alas’
ה֑וֹ (hōw)
Interjection
Strong's 1930: Oh!

in all
וּבְכָל־ (ū·ḇə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the streets.
חוּצ֖וֹת (ḥū·ṣō·wṯ)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2351: Separate by a, wall, outside, outdoors

The farmer
אִכָּר֙ (’ik·kār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 406: A plowman, husbandman

will be summoned
וְקָרְא֤וּ (wə·qā·rə·’ū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

mourn,
אֵ֔בֶל (’ê·ḇel)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 60: Lamentation

and the mourners
י֥וֹדְעֵי (yō·wḏ·‘ê)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3045: To know

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

wail.
וּמִסְפֵּ֖ד (ū·mis·pêḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4553: A lamentation


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OT Prophets: Amos 5:16 Therefore thus says Yahweh the God (Amo. Am)
Amos 5:15
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