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Amos 5:16-20
World English Bible
Amos 5:16-20
World English Bible
16 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the Lord, says:
“Wailing will be in all the wide ways;
and they will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’
and they will call the farmer to mourning,
and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.
17 In all vineyards there will be wailing;
for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.
18 “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh!
Why do you long for the day of Yahweh?
It is darkness,
and not light.
19 As if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him;
Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall,
and a snake bit him.
20 Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light?
Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
Amos 5:16-20
New Living Translation
Amos 5:16-20
New Living Translation
16 Therefore, this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, says:
“There will be crying in all the public squares
and mourning in every street.
Call for the farmers to weep with you,
and summon professional mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing in every vineyard,
for I will destroy them all,”
says the Lord.
Warning of Coming Judgment
18 What sorrow awaits you who say,
“If only the day of the Lord were here!”
You have no idea what you are wishing for.
That day will bring darkness, not light.
19 In that day you will be like a man who runs from a lion—
only to meet a bear.
Escaping from the bear, he leans his hand against a wall in his house—
and he’s bitten by a snake.
20 Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless,
without a ray of joy or hope.
Amos 5:16-20
New International Version
Amos 5:16-20
New International Version
16 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord God Almighty, says:
“There will be wailing(A) in all the streets(B)
and cries of anguish in every public square.
The farmers(C) will be summoned to weep
and the mourners to wail.
17 There will be wailing(D) in all the vineyards,
for I will pass through(E) your midst,”
says the Lord.(F)
The Day of the Lord
18 Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!(G)
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?(H)
That day will be darkness,(I) not light.(J)
19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,(K)
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall
only to have a snake bite him.(L)
20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness,(M) not light—
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?(N)
World English Bible (WEB)
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.