Amos 5:18

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ¹  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

Amos 8:9-10

8:9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon,

and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. ² 

8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, ³ 

and all your songs into funeral dirges.

I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ⁴ 

and cause every head to be shaved bald. ⁵ 

I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ⁶ 

when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ⁷ 

[5:18]  ¹ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[8:9]  ² tn Heb “in a day of light.”

[8:10]  ³ tn Heb “mourning.”

[8:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”

[8:10]  sn Mourners wore sackcloth (funeral clothes) as an outward expression of grief.

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).

[8:10]  sn Shaving the head or tearing out one’s hair was a ritual act of mourning. See Lev 21:5; Deut 14:1; Isa 3:24; 15:2; Jer 47:5; 48:37; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Mic 1:16.

[8:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”

[8:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.