Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
Parallel translations
- WEB Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?
- KJV Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
- BSB Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
- NASB Will the day of the Lord not be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it?
- NLT Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Amos repeats that the day of Yahweh will be utter darkness with no brightness in it. He drives home that the unrepentant have everything backwards about God's coming.
Overview
By restating the theme as a rhetorical question, Amos leaves no room for the false hope that the day will be light for sinful Israel. The total absence of brightness pictures judgment without relief for those under God's wrath. Yet for those redeemed in Christ, the same day becomes light, for he is the light no darkness can overcome.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 13:10For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
- Zeph 1:15That day is a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness,
- Ezek 34:12As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
- Job 10:21–22before I go where I shall not return from, to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death;
- Jude 1:13wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
- Rev 16:10The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was darkened. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain,
- Job 3:4–6Let that day be darkness. Don’t let God from above seek for it, neither let the light shine on it.
- Nah 1:8But with an overflowing flood, he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.
- Matt 22:13Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Amid judgment on injustice, Amos promises the raising up of David's fallen tent — read by James in Acts 15 as the ingathering of the nations into the kingdom of the risen Christ.
How Amos 5:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.