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Amos 5:19-21
New English Translation
Amos 5:19-21
New English Translation
19 Disaster will be inescapable,[a]
as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,
then escaped into[b] a house,
leaned his hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a poisonous snake.
20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring[c] darkness, not light—
gloomy blackness, not bright light?
21 “I absolutely despise[d] your festivals!
I get no pleasure[e] from your religious assemblies.
Footnotes
- Amos 5:19 tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Amos 5:19 tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).
- Amos 5:20 tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”
- Amos 5:21 tn Heb “I hate”; “I despise.”
- Amos 5:21 tn Heb “I will not smell.” These verses are full of vivid descriptions of the Lord’s total rejection of Israelite worship. In the first half of this verse two verbs are used together for emphasis. Here the verb alludes to the sense of smell, a fitting observation since offerings would have been burned on the altar ideally to provide a sweet aroma to God (see, e.g., Lev 1:9, 13, 17; Num 29:36). Other senses that are mentioned include sight and hearing in vv. 22-23.
New English Translation (NET)
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