Reading 67 | The Bible in 100 Passages

Wednesday, November 19, 2025  

Today’s Scripture
Amos 5:18–24   

Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?

I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an everflowing stream. (NRSV)

Reflection

Like many other biblical figures before him, the prophet Amos had an unlikely rise from relative obscurity to deliver a powerful message at a crucial moment in Israel’s history. Elsewhere in the book, we learn that Amos is from Tekoa (1:1), a small, rural town where he worked both as a shepherd and as a manual laborer harvesting sycamore trees (7:14). His work in the fields makes him far different than those who served as professional prophets — a fact he underlines while confronting one of the leading priests of his day (7:10–17). There was nothing for him to gain by speaking out — quite the opposite, in fact! — but he has no choice but to deliver this message he’s been given by God.

That backstory is crucial for understanding our passage today, one in which Amos lambasts the religious hypocrisy he has seen throughout the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The book of Amos depicts a widening gap between rich and poor within Israel, of inequal justice based off nepotism and power, and a faith based more off ritual and appearance than actual adherence. Small wonder, then, that Amos offers this stinging rebuke: “I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ... But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream” (5:21, 24).

It's easy to cheer on Amos’s words when they’re directed at his contemporaries, but the parallels with our context today can be quite uncomfortable. Income inequality in our country has been steadily increasing decade after decade. Few would argue that justice is applied evenly with regards to race and ethnicity, or wealth and status. These truths demand a response from us, both as individuals and as a wider community. For Amos, the answer is clear and uncompromising ... but what might our response be?

Prayer

Challenge me, O Lord, to have a prophetic imagination like Amos — one that envisions a world in which justice is truly served and your love is made fully known, working to make that dream our shared reality. Amen.

Written Matt Helms, Associate Pastor

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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