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They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
Isaiah 24:9 · New King James Version
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.
  • BSB They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume 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 The verse depicts the emptiness of seeking joy in created pleasures when God has withdrawn His blessing.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 your way — eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.
  • Isa 5:22Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
  • Ps 69:12Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards.
  • Isa 5:11–12Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!
  • Isa 5:20Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
  • Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
  • Amos 8:3The songs of the temple will be wailings in that day,” says the Lord Yahweh. “The dead bodies will be many. In every place they will throw them out with silence.
  • Eph 5:18–19Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
  • Amos 6:5–7who strum on the strings of a harp; who invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;
  • Zech 9:15Yahweh of Armies will defend them; and they will destroy and overcome with sling stones; and they will drink, and roar as through wine; and they will be filled like bowls, 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.