“I hate, I reject your feasts, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Remove from Me the tumult of your songs; I will not even listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever‑flowing stream.
Amos 5:19 As when a man flees from a lion And a bear meets him; Or he goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him.
Amos 5:20 Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light, Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?
Amos 5:21 “I hate, I reject your feasts, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.
Amos 5:22 Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings.
Amos 5:23 Remove from Me the tumult of your songs; I will not even listen to the melody of your harps.
Amos 5:24 But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever‑flowing stream.
Amos 5:25 “Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?
Amos 5:26 You also carried along Sikkuth your king and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.
The verse centers on "light", "hate", "reject", "feasts", "delight", "solemn", "assemblies", and "even". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "hate", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 20's "Will not the day of Yahweh be..." into verse 25's "Did you present Me with sacrifices and...", so "light" and "hate" 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 "hate" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.