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They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.
Isaiah 24:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB They will not drink wine with a song. Strong drink will be bitter to those who drink it.
  • KJV They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.
  • NKJV They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
  • NASB They do not drink wine with song; Intoxicating drink is bitter to those who drink it.
  • NLT Gone are the joys of wine and song; alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

They no longer drink wine with singing, and strong drink turns bitter to the drinker. Pleasure itself loses its sweetness.

Overview

Even drink, sought for comfort, becomes bitter in a judged world. The merry songs that accompanied feasting are gone. The verse depicts the emptiness of seeking joy in created pleasures when God has withdrawn His blessing.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Eccl 9:7Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:
  • Isa 5:22Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink,
  • Ps 69:12Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
  • Isa 5:11–12Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
  • Isa 5:20Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.
  • Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
  • Amos 8:3“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”
  • Eph 5:18–19Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
  • Amos 6:5–7You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments.
  • Zech 9:15The LORD of Hosts will shield them. They will destroy and conquer with slingstones; they will drink and roar as with wine. And they will be filled like sprinkling bowls, drenched like the corners of the altar.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 24:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 24:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.