Amos 5:20 (DRB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

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.

Amos 5:22 And if you offer me holocausts, and your gifts, I will not receive them: neither will I regard the vows of your fat beasts.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "darkness", "shall", "lord", "obscurity", 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 should flee from..." into verse 21's "I hate and have rejected your festivities...", 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.