For the special character of this verse, see 8.1; 7.7-9.
On that day. For the special meaning of this expression, see 2.16. Good News Translation has done some restructuring by putting the expression at the beginning, since it is the time setting of the whole verse (so also New English Bible, The Translator’s Old Testament). This will also be the natural position in many other languages as well.
Says the Lord GOD has been omitted in Good News Translation because there is no change of speaker. Other translations should not necessarily do this, but in some languages it may be better to put it at the end of the verse to show the end of the unit (so The Translator’s Old Testament). If verse 3 is printed as a separate paragraph according to the suggestion in 7.7-9, “The Lord GOD says” may be used as an introductory sentence before the time setting.
The songs of the temple shall become wailings/the songs in the palace will become cries of mourning. This gives the traditional interpretation of the Hebrew (except for the palace), but it is probably not right. Because of the context the great majority of scholars change the Hebrew text slightly to “the singing women in the palace shall howl” (New English Bible, and the same interpretation in The Translator’s Old Testament). This is the interpretation which should be followed. A possible translation is “The women who were singing in the palace will wail instead.”
The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast out in silence/There will be dead bodies everywhere. They will be cast out in silence. This gives the reasons for the mourning. There are so many dead and not enough place to bury them. Good News Translation has combined these two ideas into There will be dead bodies everywhere. New English Bible takes these to be the words which the women were wailing.
In silence. (Hebrew: Silence! or Hush!) Compare 6.10. But who is speaking? The LORD? The singing women (New English Bible)? Or a reader who expressed his feelings in a marginal note? It seems impossible to know. The best way to make some sense out of this might be to say “not a sound will be heard.”
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .