Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe 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!
- BSB Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- NKJV Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
- NASB Woe to those who rise early in the morning so that they may pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them!
- NLT What sorrow for those who get up early in the morning looking for a drink of alcohol and spend long evenings drinking wine to make themselves flaming drunk.
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
A woe falls on those who pursue strong drink from dawn till late into the night. It condemns lives consumed by indulgence rather than devotion to God.
Overview
The relentless drinking pictures a people enslaved to pleasure, with no time or thought for the Lord. Such intemperance is not merely physical excess but a sign of spiritual indifference. The woe sets up the next verse's charge that their revelry blinds them to God's works.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 23:29–30Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
- Rom 13:13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
- Prov 20:1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
- Isa 5:22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
- Eccl 10:16–17Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!
- Isa 28:7–8But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
- Hab 2:15Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
- Gal 5:21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
- 1 Th 5:6–7Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
- 1 Cor 6:10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- Isa 28:1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
- Hos 7:5–6In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
- Prov 23:32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 5:11 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.