Amos 5:18

Amos 5:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.
• New International Version (NIV)Woe to you who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? That day will be darkness, not light.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light.

Context of Amos 5:18

16Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the Lord, says: “There will be wailing in all the public squares and cries of ‘Alas! Alas!’ in all the streets. The farmer will be summoned to mourn, and the mourners to wail. 17There will be wailing in all the vineyards, for I will pass through your midst,” says the LORD. Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. 19It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. 20Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

Amos 5:18 word by word

ה֥וֹי הַמִּתְאַוִּ֖ים אֶת־י֣וֹם יְהוָ֑ה לָמָּה־זֶּ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם י֥וֹם יְהוָ֖ה הוּא־חֹ֥שֶׁךְ וְלֹא־אֽוֹר׃Read the interlinear

• Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
• to you who long forאָוָה'âvâh · to desireH183
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• the Dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• of the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• Whatמָהmâh mah mâ ma meh · what?H4100
• Whatזֶהzeh · thisH2088
• Itהוּאhû' hîy' · he/she/itH1931
• darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
• and notלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• lightאוֹר'ôr · lightH216

Cross-references for Amos 5:18

• Isaiah 5:19to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”
• Isaiah 28:15For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
• Jeremiah 17:15Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”
• Ezekiel 12:22“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?
• Malachi 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
• 2 Peter 3:4“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
• Isaiah 5:30In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.
• Isaiah 9:19By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts the land is scorched, and the people are fuel for the fire. No man even spares his brother.
• Isaiah 24:11In the streets they cry out for wine. All joy turns to gloom; rejoicing is exiled from the land.
• Jeremiah 30:7How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
• Joel 1:15Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
• Joel 2:1Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
• Zephaniah 1:14The great Day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter.
• Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
• 2 Peter 3:10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

Commentaries on Amos 5:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Wo unto you that desire the day of the Lord - The prophet had often denounced the coming of God's day, that is, of a time of judgment; and the unbelievers had said, "Let his day come, that we may see it." Now the prophet tells them that that day would be to them darkness - calamity, and not light - not prosperity.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Woe unto you that desire - for yourselves. The Day of the Lord - There were “mockers in those days” 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 1:18, as there are now, and as there shall be in the last. And as the “scoffers in the last days” 2 Peter 3:3-4; Jude 1:18 shall say, “Where is the promise of His coming?” so these said, “let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we way see it, and let the council of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it”…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-27Verses 18-27 Woe unto those that desire the day of the Lord's judgments, that wish for times of war and confusion; as some who long for changes, hoping to rise upon the ruins of their country! but this should be so great a desolation, that nobody could gain by it. The day of the Lord will be a dark, dismal, gloomy day to all impenitent sinners. When God makes a day dark, all the world cannot make it light. Those who are not reformed by the judgments of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18Amos again challenges the Israelites' mistaken belief about their chosen status (see Amos 3:2). The phrase What will the Day of the LORD be for you indicates despair from a great tragedy. In the Old Testament, the day of the Lord (see Isaiah 13:6, 9) was when God would intervene to fix what was wrong. God's intervention would mean vindication for the righteous and judgment for the wicked. Israel believed that on that day (see also Amos 8:3, 9, 13; 9:11)…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Woe unto you who do not scruple to say in irony, "We desire that the day of the Lord would come," that is, "Woe to you who treat it as if it were a mere dream of the prophets" (Is 5:19; Jr 17:15; Eze 12:22). to what end is it for you!--Amos taking their ironical words in earnest: for God often takes the blasphemer at his own word, in righteous retribution making the scoffer's jest a terrible reality against himself. Ye have but little reason to desire…Read the comment

Topics related to Amos 5:18

• Darkness
• Day
• Infidelity
• Judgments
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Manifold
• Seek
• Amos (1)
• Eschatology of the Old Testament
• Joel (2)

Commentaries on Amos 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings