Isaiah 24:20

Isaiah 24:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The earth staggers like a drunken man; it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again.

Context of Isaiah 24:20

18Anyone who runs away from the sound of the terror will fall into the deep hole. The trap will catch anyone who climbs out of the big hole. God has opened the windows of the sky. He has caused the foundations of the earth to shake. 19The earth has become broken into many pieces. It has torn apart. It is shaking powerfully. The earth is like a drunk man. It cannot walk in a straight line. It moves in all directions, like a tent in a storm. The people's sins are like a heavy weight on the earth. It cannot carry them and it will fall. It will never be able to get up again. 21At that time, the Lord will punish the powerful beings in the skies above. He will punish the kings who rule on the earth below. 22He will bring them together like prisoners in a deep hole. That will be their prison. They will be there for a time, and then he will come to punish them.

Isaiah 24:20 word by word

נ֣וֹעַ תָּנ֤וּעַ אֶ֙רֶץ֙ כַּשִּׁכּ֔וֹר וְהִֽתְנוֹדְדָ֖ה כַּמְּלוּנָ֑ה וְכָבַ֤ד עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ פִּשְׁעָ֔הּ וְנָפְלָ֖ה וְלֹא־תֹסִ֥יף קֽוּם׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• shall reelנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
• like a drunkardשִׁכֹּרshikkôr shikkôr · drunkenH7910
• and shall be removedנוּדnûd · to wanderH5110
• like a cottageמְלוּנָהmelûnâh · lodgeH4412
• and the transgressionפֶּ֫שַׁעpesha‛ · transgressionH6588
• thereof shall be heavyכָּבֵדkâbad kâbêd · to honor: heavyH3513
• upon it; and it shall fallנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
• and not riseקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
• againיָסַףyâsaph · to add: againH3254

Cross-references for Isaiah 24:20

• Isaiah 19:14The Lord has sent among the people in Egypt a spirit that confuses them. They go the wrong way in everything that they do. They are like drunk people who have been sick. They cannot walk in a straight line.
• Isaiah 29:9You are so surprised that you do not believe what I say. You have become completely blind. You are stupid, like people who are drunk, but not from wine! You fall over, but not because you have drunk too much beer!
• Psalms 107:27Like drunk people, they could not stand or walk properly. They did not know what to do!
• Isaiah 1:8Jerusalem is now like a hut in a vineyard or in a field of crops. It stands there alone, with its enemies all round it.
• Isaiah 38:12My home here has gone, as easily as they pull down a shepherd's tent. God has cut off my life, like a piece of cloth that they have just made. They cut it off and they roll it up. As quickly as day becomes night, God brings my life to an end.
• Isaiah 5:7Israel's nation is like the vineyard of the Lord Almighty. Judah's people are his beautiful garden. But when the Lord looked there for justice, he found only murder! When he looked for people who were righteous, he saw that they were cruel.
• Psalms 38:4My sin is too much for me! It is like a heavy weight, that I cannot carry.
• Lamentations 1:14He has caused our sins to seem like something very heavy that lies on our necks. It makes us weak. He has let the enemy be very strong. He let them win against us. So we cannot beat them.
• Hosea 4:1Israelites, listen to the Lord's message! The Lord accuses the people who live in Israel of these bad things: ‘Nobody in the land of Israel is faithful. They have no true love. They do not want to know God.
• Matthew 23:35Because of all this, God will punish you for all the good people that you and your ancestors have killed. Long ago, Abel was the first of those good people. You also killed Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. He died in the yard of the temple near the altar.
• Jeremiah 8:4‘Jeremiah, tell the people that this is what I, the Lord, say to them: When people fall down, they get up again. When people realize that they are on the wrong road, they turn around.
• Jeremiah 25:27Then the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them that the Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, “Drink the wine from this cup until you become drunk. Drink so much that you are sick. Drink it until you fall down and cannot get up again, because you know that I will send armies to attack you.”
• Daniel 11:19So the king of the north will return to the strong cities in his own country. But he will lose his power and he will fall. Nobody will ever see him again.
• Amos 8:14They worship Samaria's idols. They use the names of those false gods to make promises. They say, “In the name of the god of Dan,” or “In the name of the god of Beersheba.” Those people will fall down and they will never get up again.’
• Zechariah 5:5Then the angel that talked to me came near to me. He said, ‘Look. And see the thing that has just appeared.’
• Revelation 18:21Then a powerful angel picked up a very big, heavy stone. He threw it into the sea. He said, ‘God will throw you down, Babylon! You are a great city, but God will throw you down like this stone. Nobody will ever see you again!

Commentaries on Isaiah 24:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Like a cottage "Like a lodge for a night" - See note on Isaiah 1:8.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard - This is descriptive of the agitation that occurs in an earthquake when everything is shaken from its foundation, and when trees and towers are shaken by the mighty concussion. The same figure is used in Isaiah 29:9. See also the description of a tempest at sea, in Psalm 107:27: They reel to and fro, And stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wit‘s end. And shall be removed like a cottage - Or rather…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-23Verses 16-23 Believers may be driven into the uttermost parts of the earth; but they are singing, not sighing. Here is terror to sinners; the prophet laments the miseries he saw breaking in like a torrent; and the small number of believers. He foresees that sin would abound. The meaning is plain, that evil pursues sinners. Unsteady, uncertain are all these things. Worldly men think to dwell in the earth as in a palace, as in a castle; but it shall be…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-23Here, the judgments described in Isaiah 13–23 apply to all of creation.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. removed like a cottage--(See on Is 1:8). Here, a hanging couch, suspended from the trees by cords, such as Niebuhr describes the Arab keepers of lands as having, to enable them to keep watch, and at the same time to be secure from wild beasts. Translate, "Shall wave to and fro like a hammock" swung about by the wind. heavy upon it--like an overwhelming burden. not rise again--not meaning, that it never would rise (Is 24:23), but in those convulsions…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 24:20

• Booth
• Earth
• Earthquakes

In the dictionaries

• Cottage
• Dark
• Drink, strong
• Fear
• Lift
• Lodge
• Sennacherib
• Shake
• Drunkenness
• Heavy; Heaviness

Commentaries on Isaiah 24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings