Amos 5:20

Amos 5:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
• New International Version (NIV)Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

Context of Amos 5:20

18You want the special day of the Lord to come. But it will be very bad for you! You think that God will punish your enemies on that day. But that day will not bring light to you, it will bring darkness. 19Nobody will escape! It will be like a man who runs away from a lion, but then he meets a bear! When he goes into his house to be safe, he puts his hand on a wall and a snake bites him! Know this: The day of the Lord will be dark, not light. It will bring trouble, not joy. 21The Lord says, ‘When you have your festivals, I hate them! When you meet to worship me, it does not make me happy! 22When you bring burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, they do not please me. I will not accept your friendship offerings of fat animals.

Amos 5:20 word by word

הֲלֹא־חֹ֛שֶׁךְ י֥וֹם יְהוָ֖ה וְלֹא־א֑וֹר וְאָפֵ֖ל וְלֹא־נֹ֥גַֽהּ לֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• not the dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• darknessחֹ֫שֶׁךְchôshek · darknessH2822
• and not lightאוֹר'ôr · lightH216
• even very darkאָפֵל'aphêl · gloomyH651
• and no brightnessנֹ֫גַהּnôgahh · brightnessH5051

Cross-references for Amos 5:20

• Job 3:4That day should be completely dark, with no light to shine on it! God in heaven above should not even think about it.
• Job 10:21I will soon go to the dark place where there is no hope. I will never come back from that place.
• Isaiah 13:10When he does that, the stars in the sky will give no light. When the sun rises in the morning, it will still be dark. The moon will no longer shine.
• Ezekiel 34:12I will be like a shepherd who looks everywhere to find his lost sheep. I will find them and I will rescue them. I will bring them back from the places that they have run away to. It was a dark day with many clouds when they ran away.
• Nahum 1:8But the people in Nineveh are his enemies and he will kill them.
• Matthew 22:13The king said to his servants, “Tie his hands and his feet. Take him and throw him into the dark place outside. There, people will cry and they will bite their teeth together.”
• Jude 1:13Those false teachers are like water in the sea that the wind blows during a storm. The dirt that comes to the top of the water is like the disgusting things that those people do. They are like stars that have moved away from their proper places in the sky. God has prepared a completely dark place for them. God will keep them there for ever.
• Revelation 16:10Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the wild animal. As a result, the whole kingdom that the wild animal ruled became dark. People were biting their tongues because of their great pain.

Commentaries on Amos 5:20

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Shall not the Day of the Lord be darkness? - He had described that Day as a day of inevitable destruction, such its man‘s own conscience and guilty fears anticipate, and then appeals to their own consciences, “is it not so, as I have said?” People‘s consciences are truer than their intellect. However, they may employ the subtlety of their intellect to dull their conscience, they feel, in their heart of hearts, that there is a Judge, that guilt is…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. 18-27The pronouncements of sorrow in this section develop two main themes: Israel’s apostasy (turning away from God) would make the day of the Lord a day of judgment, not salvation; and Judah’s spiritual complacency (feeling satisfied and unconcerned about faithfulness to God) would also bring judgment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-271. lamentation--an elegy for the destruction coming on you. Compare Eze 32:2, "take up," namely, as a mournful burden (Eze 19:1; 27:2).Read the comment

Topics related to Amos 5:20

• Darkness
• Judgments
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Manifold
• Seek
• 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