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 English Translation
16 Because of Israel’s sins[a] this is what the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[b] says:
“In all the squares there will be wailing,
in all the streets they will mourn the dead.[c]
They will tell the field workers[d] to lament
and the professional mourners[e] to wail.
17 In all the vineyards there will be wailing,
for I will pass through[f] your midst,” says the Lord.
The Lord Demands Justice
18 Woe[g] to those who wish for the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?
It will bring darkness, not light.
19 Disaster will be inescapable,[h]
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped into[i] a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring[j] darkness, not light—
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
Footnotes
- Amos 5:16 tn Heb “Therefore.” This logical connector relates back to the accusation of vv. 10-13, not to the parenthetical call to repentance in vv. 14-15. To indicate this clearly, the phrase “Because of Israel’s sins” is used in the translation.
- Amos 5:16 tn Or “the Lord.” The Hebrew term translated “sovereign One” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Amos 5:16 tn Heb “they will say, ‘Ah! Ah!’” The Hebrew term הוֹ (ho, “ah, woe”) is an alternate form of הוֹי (hoy), a word used to mourn the dead and express outwardly one’s sorrow. See 1 Kgs 13:30; Jer 22:18; 34:5. This wordplay follows quickly, as v. 18 begins with הוֹי (“woe”).
- Amos 5:16 tn Or “farmers” (NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
- Amos 5:16 tn Heb “those who know lamentation.”sn Professional mourners are referred to elsewhere in the OT (2 Chr 35:25; Jer 9:17) and ancient Near Eastern literature. See S. M. Paul, Amos (Hermeneia), 180.
- Amos 5:17 sn The expression pass through your midst alludes to Exod 12:12, where the Lord announced he would “pass through” Egypt and bring death to the Egyptian firstborn.
- Amos 5:18 tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.
- Amos 5:19 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Amos 5:19 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
- Amos 5:20 tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”
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