Amos 5:20

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Shall not the day of Yahweh be, darkness, and not light? yea, thick darkness and no brightness in it?

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Shal not the day of the Lord be darkenes, and not light? euen darkenes and no light in it?

Christian Standard Bible®
Won’t the day of the Lordbe darkness rather than light,even gloom without any brightness in it?

Hebrew Names Version
Will the day of the LORD not be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Darby Translation
Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord 's special day will be a day of darkness, not light—a day of gloom, without a ray of light.

Amplified Bible
Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, instead of light, Even very dark with no brightness in it?

American Standard Version
Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Berean Standard Bible
Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?

Contemporary English Version
The day when the Lord judges will be dark, very dark, without a ray of light.

Complete Jewish Bible
Won't the Day of Adonai be darkness, not light, completely dark, with no brightness at all?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

King James Version (1611)
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkenes, and not light? euen very darke, and no brightnesse in it?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Shall not the day of the Lorde be darkenesse, and not light? euen darkenesse and no light in it.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light? and is not this day gloom without brightness?

English Revised Version
Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Lexham English Bible
Is not the day of Yahweh darkness and not light, and pitch dark with no brightness in it?

Literal Translation
Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light; even very dark, and not any brightness in it?

New Century Version
So the Lord 's day of judging will bring darkness, not light; it will be very dark, not light at all.

New English Translation
Don't you realize the Lord 's day of judgment will bring darkness, not light— gloomy blackness, not bright light?

New King James Version
Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?

New Living Translation
Yes, the day of the Lord will be dark and hopeless, without a ray of joy or hope.

New Life Bible
Will not the day of the Lord be darkness instead of light, very dark with nothing bright in it?

New Revised Standard
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

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

George Lamsa Translation
Such is the day of the LORD; it is darkness and not light; yea, it is a day of thick darkness and no brightness is in it.

Good News Translation
The day of the Lord will bring darkness and not light; it will be a day of gloom, without any brightness.

Webster's Bible Translation
[Shall] not the day of the LORD [be] darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whether the dai of the Lord schal not be derknessis, and not liyt; and myist, and not schynyng ther ynne?

Young's Literal Translation
Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, Even thick darkness that hath no brightness?

World English Bible
Will the day of Yahweh not be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Revised Standard Version
Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

Update Bible Version
Shall not the day of Yahweh be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Bible in Basic English
Will not the day of the Lord be dark and not light? even very dark, with no light shining in it?

New American Standard Bible
Will the day of the LORD not be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it?

King James Version
Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Shall not the daye of the LORDE be darcke, and not cleare? shal it not be cloudy, and no shyne in it?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it?

Legacy Standard Bible
Will not the day of Yahweh be darkness instead of light,Even thick darkness with no brightness in it?

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ Therefore, thus, saith Yahweh, God of hosts, My Lord, In all broadways, shall be lamentation, and, in all streets, shall they say, Alas! Alas! And they shall call the husbandman unto the mourning, and, unto the lamentation, them who know a wailing song; ¹⁷ Ye, in all vineyards, lamentation, - For I will pass along through thy midst, saith Yahweh. ¹⁸ Alas for them who are longing for the day of Yahweh, - What good to you, is the day of Yahweh? it, being darkness and not light: ¹⁹ As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and there should meet him - a bear! or he should have entered the house, and leaned his hand upon the wall, and there should bite him - a serpent! ²⁰ Shall not the day of Yahweh be, darkness, and not light? yea, thick darkness and no brightness in it?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

darkness: Job 3:4-6, Job 10:21, Job 10:22, Isaiah 13:10, Ezekiel 34:12, Nahum 1:8, Matthew 22:13, Jude 1:13, Revelation 16:10

Reciprocal: Judges 4:17 - fled Job 11:20 - they shall not escape Job 15:23 - the day Joel 2:11 - the day Matthew 24:29 - shall the Mark 13:24 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

[Shall] not the day of the Lord [be] darkness, and not light?.... The design of such a question is strongly to affirm, that, in this day of the Lord spoken of, there should be nothing but misery and distress, and no prosperity and happiness, at least to the wicked Israelites, or the unbelieving Jews:

even very dark, and no brightness in it? signifying that there should be no deliverance, nor the least glimmering view or hope of it; that the calamity should be so very great, and the destruction so entire, that there should be no mixture of mercy, nor the least appearance of relief.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Shall not the Day of the Lord be darkness? - He had described that Day as a day of inevitable destruction, such its man’s own conscience and guilty fears anticipate, and then appeals to their own consciences, “is it not so, as I have said?” People’s consciences are truer than their intellect. However, they may employ the subtlety of their intellect to dull their conscience, they feel, in their heart of hearts, that there is a Judge, that guilt is punished, that they are guilty. The soul is a witness to its own deathlessness, its own accountableness, its own punishableness . Intellect carries the question out of itself into the region of surmising and disputings. Conscience is compelled to receive it back into its own court, and to give the sentence, which it would fain withhold. Like the god of the pagan fable, who changed himself into all sorts of forms, but when he was still held fast, gave at the last, the true answer, conscience shrinks back, twists, writhes, evades, turns away, but, in the end, it will answer truly, when it must. The prophet then, turns quick round upon the conscience, and says, “tell me, for you know.”