Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
Therefore - as all chastizements have failed to make thee "return unto me."
Thus will I do unto thee - as I have threatened (Amos 4:2-3).
And because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God. God is about to inflict the last and worst judgment on thee, the extinction of thy nationality: consider then what preparation thou canst make for encountering Him as thy foe (Jeremiah 46:14; Luke 14:31-32). Since it would be madness to think of meeting in battle the King of kings (Isaiah 27:4; Ezekiel 22:14; Hebrews 10:31), see what can be done toward mitigating the severity of the coming judgment by penitence (Isaiah 27:5; 1 Corinthians 11:31). This latter exhortation is followed up in Amos 5:4; Amos 5:6; Amos 5:8; Amos 5:14-15.