Amos 5:17

5:17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,

for I will pass through ¹  your midst,” says the Lord.

Amos 6:3

6:3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come, ² 

but you establish a reign of violence. ³ 

[5:17]  ¹ sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “those who push away a day of disaster.”

[6:3]  ³ tn Heb “you bring near a seat of violence.” The precise meaning of the Hebrew term שֶׁבֶת (shevet, “seat, sitting”) is unclear in this context. The translation assumes that it refers to a throne from which violence (in the person of the oppressive leaders) reigns. Another option is that the expression refers not to the leaders’ oppressive rule, but to the coming judgment when violence will overtake the nation in the person of enemy invaders.