Amos 5:17 (WEB)

Passage

In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:15 Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the courts. It may be that Yahweh, the God of Armies, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

Amos 5:16 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: “Wailing will be in all the wide 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.

Amos 5:17 In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.

Amos 5:18 “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.

Amos 5:19 As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "vineyards", "wailing", "pass", "through", "middle", "says", and "yahweh". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "vineyards" and "wailing", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Therefore Yahweh the God of Armies the..." into verse 18's "Woe to you who desire the day...", so "vineyards" and "wailing" belong inside that flow. In Amos context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "vineyards" and "wailing" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.