Amos 5, 18-20

18. Some in Israel appear to be looking forward to "the day of the LORD." Perhaps they think that God will rescue them or reward them.

But Amos tells them that the day of the LORD will be a day of judgment and doom for Israel, a day of "darkness and not light."

19. There will be no escape for Israel: if they escape from a lion, they will be mauled by a bear. If they make it back to the safety of their home, a snake will bite them. No matter what happens, no matter what they do, they will be destroyed.

20. Amos repeats that when the LORD makes His presence felt in Israel, it will be do to them harm and not to do them good. (What the LORD says to Judah by Jeremiah, he does not say to Israel. There will be no hope or future for Israel.)