Amos 5:19 (DRB)

Passage

As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:17 And in all vineyards there shall be wailing: because I will pass through in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.

Amos 5:18 Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.

Amos 5:19 As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him.

Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light: and obscurity, and no brightness in it?

Amos 5:21 I hate, and have rejected your festivities: and I will not receive the odour of your assemblies.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "should", "flee", "face", "lion", "bear", "meet", and "enter". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "should" and "flee", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "Woe to them that desire the day..." into verse 20's "Shall not the day of the Lord...", so "should" and "flee" 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 "should" and "flee" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.