Walk through Amos, verse by verse, with the great Bible Commentaries of Matthew Henry (1662 - 1714) & Adam Clarke (1760 - 1832)
5:16
5:16
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.
KJV
{ Therefore the Lord God of hosts, having lordship (And so the Lord God of hosts, who ruleth, or
who is sovereign), saith these things, Wailing shall be in all streets, and in all things that be withoutforth it shall be said, Woe! Woe! and they shall call an earth-tiller to mourning, and them that know how to wail, to wailing.} Wycliffe's Bible
A very terrible threatening of destruction approaching. Since they would not take the right course to obtain the favour of God, God would take an effectual course to make them feel the weight of his displeasure. The threatening is introduced with more than ordinary solemnity, to strike an awe upon them;