Amos 5:1

This message begins as the previous two did, with a call to hear the Lord’s word. However here Amos announced that what follows is a dirge (Heb. qinah) against the house of Israel. A dirge was a lament that was sung at the funeral of a friend, relative, or prominent person (e.g., 2 Samuel 1:17-27; 2 Samuel 3:33-34; 2 Chronicles 35:25). The prophets used the dirge genre to prophesy the death of a city, people, or nation (cf. Jeremiah 7:29; Jeremiah 9:10-11; Jeremiah 9:17-22; Lam.; Ezekiel 19; Ezekiel 26:17-18; Ezekiel 27:2-32; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Ezekiel 32:2). Amos announced Israel’s death, the fall of the Northern Kingdom, at the height of its prosperity under Jeroboam II.

"To his listeners, hearing this lament would be as jarring as reading one’s own obituary in the newspaper." [Note: Sunukjian, p. 1438.]