Amos 5:1-27

The Third Address

1-6. A lament, a warning, and an invitation.

7, 10-20. Denunciation of injustice and oppression, with threats of pestilence and judgment.

21-27. A repudiation of their attempt to please God by mere ritual.

1, 2. Lamentation] a technical term for mournful poetry consisting of short lines of unequal length: here, for instance (Amos 5:2), the dirge consists of four lines, the first and third having three accents, the second and fourth two. Virgin] because, though often defeated, Israel had not yet been thoroughly conquered.