Passage

Amos 5.21-24

Book: Amos · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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?"

"21. I hate, I despise your feasts, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22. Yea, though ye offer me your burnt-offerings and meal-offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your fat beasts. 23. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24. But let justice roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream."

"25. Did ye bring unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26. Yea, ye have borne the tabernacle of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves." (Amos 5:19-26, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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?"

"21. I hate, I despise your feasts, and I can’t stand your solemn assemblies. 22. Yes, though you offer me your burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals. 23. Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24. But let justice roll on like rivers, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

"25. “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, house of Israel? 26. You also carried the tent of your king and the shrine of your images, the star of your god, which you made for yourselves." (Amos 5:19-26, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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?"

"21. I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. ^{in: or, your holy days} 22. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. ^{peace: or, thank offerings} 23. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. ^{run: Heb. roll}"

"25. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26. But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. ^{the tabernacle: or, Siccuth your king}" (Amos 5:19-26, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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?"

"21. I have hated, I have loathed your festivals, And I am not refreshed by your restraints. 22. For though ye cause burnt-offerings and your presents to ascend to Me, I am not pleased, And the peace-offering of your fatlings I behold not. 23. Turn aside from Me the noise of thy songs, Yea, the praise of thy psaltery I hear not. 24. And roll on as waters doth judgment, And righteousness as a perennial stream."

"25. Sacrifices and offering did ye bring nigh to Me, In a wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26. And ye bare Succoth your king, and Chiun your images, The star of your god, that ye made for yourselves." (Amos 5:19-26, 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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.