Word study of the Old Testament Book of Amos

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Amos 5:18, 24, and 25

v 18
Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, and not light. . .

v 24-25
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
"Did you bring to me sacrifices and
offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

18: "Woe" is used in two, not used in the NASB. "Alas" is used in the latter, but the meaning is almost identical. "Woe" is much stronger than "alas." The latter gives the impression of mechanism: God has to do this due to the contract. Woe seems more like a free choice. That God is bound by anything, including a contract, is not proper theology in the Old or New testament. Since all is conditional on behavior, the "self-limiting" of a contract can be revoked.
The use of the term "darkness" is universal, but its context is not. "Darkness" is to take place in the daytime, according to the NIV. The other two merely have "darkness." In the NIVs case, it is a specific judgment and hence, unnatural. It is God's will, not just a period of metaphorical darkness or ignorance. Darkness can mean death (as in Hades), ignorance, literal darkness, or a darkening of the mind from which Yahweh cannot be distinguished from Moloch.
The NRSV uses "alas" instead of "woe." Both translations are common (this has come up before) and have only the slightest difference. Alas is an older English form, woe is more modern (who says "Alas" anymore?)
NRSV speaks of the Day of the Lord as a desire of the people. This is one of the few translations that use this sort of term. The point is that the people have become so arrogance that the end times will lead to their final global rule.
Almost identical in all versions. It will be darkness. More explicitly, the "Day of the Lord," which most had considered to be a time of God's rule over the world directly, will not be a time of victory, but for most, a time of darkness that has no light to go along with it. Expectations here are reversed.
"Day of Yahweh." This almost always refers to the day of judgment. The issue was that, as Judah became more corrupt, the evil were prospering and the good, suffering. How can this be made right? Ultimately, by the coming Judgment. "Corrupt" here has a very specific meaning: it refers to the obsession with commerce, the slow blurring of the lines between Yahweh and Baal (etc), and, worst of all, the perfunctory form of worship and sacrifice that had turned pagan. That is, it was performed so as to ensure prosperity for the coming year, rather than as thanks to God. It became magic, not praise.
The Hebrew transliterated is ywm yhwh. This is not all that controversial, since it's used the same way all over the OT. It is about judgment and the end of all things: all that is unbalanced will be made balanced and right. Remember: this is not a good thing for most. Israel/Judah will suffer as a result of this "day."
It is found in an almost identical sense in Isaiah 13, Ezekiel 13, Joel 1 (really, throughout), and Malachi 3, among other places. Some add the term 'brt, or "wrath" or use the phrase ywm hrwn 'pw, or the "day of His Burning Anger." It's all the same thing. While the Day is a noun, it implies an action. It's verb form is unimportant since we, as human beings, have nothing to do with it. It is God's action, not ours. It is the final judgment, where justice is made manifest in an infallible and unmistakable way (Barstad, 1984 and Smith, 1901).

24: The NIV is almost identical to the NASB in this ...