Amo 5:16 | NETfull | STEP | 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.

Amos 5:16

16 Because of Israel’s sins ^{▼▼ 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.} this is what the Lord, the God who commands armies, the sovereign One, ^{▼▼ Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).} says:
“In all the squares there will be wailing,
in all the streets they will mourn the dead. ^{▼▼ 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”).}
They will tell the field workers ^{▼▼ Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).} to lament
and the professional mourners ^{▼▼ Heb “those who know lamentation.”} ^{▼▼ 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.} to wail.