Amos 5:18 (WEB)

Passage

“Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.

Nearby Context

Amos 5:16 Therefore Yahweh, the God of Armies, the Lord, says: “Wailing will be in all the wide ways; and they will say in all the streets, ‘Alas! Alas!’ and they will call the farmer to mourning, and those who are skillful in lamentation to wailing.

Amos 5:17 In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh.

Amos 5:18 “Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.

Amos 5:19 As if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; Or he went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him.

Amos 5:20 Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "darkness", "desire", "yahweh", and "long". 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 17's "In all vineyards there will be wailing..." into verse 19's "As if a man fled from a...", 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.