# Amos 5.18 **Book:** [Amos](/codex/amos/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 16. Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all the broad ways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! Alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful in lamentation to wailing. 17. And in all vineyards shall be wailing; for I will pass through the midst of thee, saith Jehovah. > > **18. Woe unto you that desire the day of Jehovah! Wherefore would ye have the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light.** > > 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. 20. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:16-20, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 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. 17. In all vineyards there will be wailing; for I will pass through the middle of you,” says Yahweh. > > **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.** > > 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. 20. Won’t the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:16-20, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 16. Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. > > **18. Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.** > > 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. 20. Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:16-20, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 16. Therefore, thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, the Lord, In all broad places [is] lamentation, And in all out-places they say, 'Alas, alas,' And called the husbandman to mourning, And to lamentation the skilful of wailing. 17. And in all vineyards [is] lamentation, For I pass into thy midst, said Jehovah. > > **18. Ho, ye who are desiring the day of Jehovah, Why [is] this to you, the day of Jehovah? It is darkness, and not light,** > > 19. As [when] one fleeth from the face of the lion, And the bear hath met him, And he hath come in to the house, And hath leant his hand on the wall, And the serpent hath bitten him. 20. Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that hath no brightness? (Amos 5:16-20, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ - _TBD_ ## Quoted in **Passages:** - [Amos 3.2](/codex/amos-3-2/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.