Amos 5:21 (KJV)

Passage

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.

Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Amos 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Amos 5:23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hate", "despise", "feast", "days", "smell", "solemn", and "assemblies". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hate" and "despise", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 20's "Shall not the day of the LORD..." into verse 22's "Though ye offer me burnt offerings and...", so "hate" and "despise" belong inside that flow. In Amos context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hate" and "despise" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.