And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.”
Parallel translations
- WEB They shall drink, and reel back and forth, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.”
- KJV And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.
- NKJV And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
- NASB Then they will drink and loudly vomit and act insanely because of the sword that I am going to send among them.”
- NLT When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them.”
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
The nations will drink, stagger, and go mad because of the sword God sends among them. The cup brings disorienting, terrifying judgment.
Overview
Drinking the cup of wrath leaves the nations reeling like drunken men, undone by the violence God brings. The imagery conveys the overwhelming and destabilizing nature of divine judgment. It depicts the helplessness of all who stand under God's righteous anger apart from mercy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 51:7Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Nah 3:11You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
- Lam 4:21So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Ezek 23:32–34This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, a cup deep and wide. It will bring scorn and derision, for it holds so much.
- Jer 51:39While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast, and I will make them drunk so that they may revel; then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up, declares the LORD.
- Rev 18:3All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”
- Rev 14:10he too will drink the wine of God’s anger, poured undiluted into the cup of His wrath. And he will be tormented in fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
- Rev 16:9–11And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
- Jer 25:27“Then you are to tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, because of the sword I will send among you.’
- Lam 3:15He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.
- Rev 14:8Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 25:16 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.