KJV King James Version
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
VERSE STUDY • KJV
Isaiah 24:20
The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
Read it in 5 translations
BSB Berean Standard Bible
The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.
WEB World English Bible
The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will sway back and forth like a hammock. Its disobedience will be heavy on it, and it will fall and not rise again.
ASV American Standard Version
The earth shall stagger like a drunken man, and shall sway to and fro like a hammock; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.
YLT Young’s Literal Translation
Stagger greatly doth the land as a drunkard, And it hath been moved as a lodge, And heavy on it hath been its transgression, And it hath fallen, and addeth not to rise.
Surrounding context — Isaiah 24
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
Topics connected to this verse
Original-language word links
These Hebrew/Greek tokens are linked by Strong's number. Click one for its lexicon definition and other occurrences.
נ֣וֹעַH5128 · nu.ato shakeתָּנ֤וּעַH5128 · nu.ato shakeאֶ֙רֶץ֙H776 · e.retsland: country/planetכַּשִּׁכּ֔וֹרH7910 · shik.kordrunkenוְהִֽתְנוֹדְדָ֖הH5110 · nudto wanderכַּמְּלוּנָ֑הH4412 · me.lu.nahlodgeוְכָבַ֤דH3513 · ka.vadto honor: honourעָלֶ֙יהָ֙H5921 · aluponפִּשְׁעָ֔הּH6588 · pe.sahtransgressionוְנָפְלָ֖הH5307 · na.phalto fall: fallוְלֹא־H3808 · lonotתֹסִ֥יףH3254 · ya.saphto add: againקֽוּם׃ סH6965 · qa.may(Leb)-kamai
Cross-references
Isaiah 19:14The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken [man] staggereth in his vomit.Daniel 11:19Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.Isaiah 29:9Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.Hosea 4:1-5Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because [there is] no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.Amos 8:14They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.Revelation 18:21And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.Lamentations 1:14The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, [and] come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into [their] hands, [from whom] I am not able to rise up.Zechariah 5:5-8Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what [is] this that goeth forth.Jeremiah 8:4Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?Psalm 38:4For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.Isaiah 43:27Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me.Isaiah 1:8And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.Isaiah 1:28And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners [shall be] together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.Jeremiah 25:27Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Drink ye, and be drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.Psalm 107:27They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.Isaiah 38:12Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even] to night wilt thou make an end of me.Isaiah 5:7-30For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.Matthew 23:35-36That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION
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