Amos 5:20 (ASV)

Passage

Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Nearby Context

Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.

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 Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Amos 5:21 I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Amos 5:22 Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "darkness", "shall", "jehovah", "even", "very", and "brightness". It is saying that the contrast between light and darkness marks a real divide in how people respond to God's work.

The nearby context moves from verse 19's "As if a man did flee from..." into verse 21's "I hate I despise your feasts and...", so "light" and "darkness" 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 "light" and "darkness" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.