Amos 5:17

Amos 5:17 Meaning and Explanation

And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.

King James Version (KJV)

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Even the places of joy, the vineyards, will be filled with wailing when the Lord passes through in judgment.

What Does Amos 5:17 Mean?

The mourning reaches even the vineyards, places normally filled with the songs and laughter of harvest. There too will be wailing, for the Lord says, "I will pass through thee." The phrase echoes the night of the Passover, when God passed through Egypt, but here Israel is the one visited in judgment.

The reversal is sobering: the people who were spared when God passed through Egypt now face His passing through their own land. Privilege presumed upon becomes peril. The joy of the vineyard turns to grief. Yet the echo of Passover also recalls that God provided a way of deliverance then, through the blood of the lamb. The verse leaves the reader reflecting on both the seriousness of judgment and the mercy that has always made a way of escape.

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What does Amos 5:17 mean?

Even the places of joy, the vineyards, will be filled with wailing when the Lord passes through in judgment.

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