Isaiah 28:7
New International Version
And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.

New Living Translation
Now, however, Israel is led by drunks who reel with wine and stagger with alcohol. The priests and prophets stagger with alcohol and lose themselves in wine. They reel when they see visions and stagger as they render decisions.

English Standard Version
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.

Berean Standard Bible
These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

King James Bible
But 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.

New King James Version
But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

New American Standard Bible
And these also reel with wine and stagger from intoxicating drink: The priest and the prophet reel with intoxicating drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from intoxicating drink; They reel while having visions, They stagger when rendering a verdict.

NASB 1995
And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment.

NASB 1977
And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment.

Legacy Standard Bible
And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; They are swallowed up by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions; They totter when rendering a verdict.

Amplified Bible
But even these reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink; They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while seeing visions, They stagger when pronouncing judgment.

Christian Standard Bible
Even these stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer: Priest and prophet stagger because of beer. They are confused by wine. They stumble because of beer. They are muddled in their visions. They stumble in their judgments.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
These also stagger because of wine and stumble under the influence of beer: priest and prophet stagger because of beer, they are confused by wine. They stumble because of beer, they are muddled in their visions, they stumble in their judgments.

American Standard Version
And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Also these have erred by wine and by liquor. the Priests have erred and the Prophets have erred by strong drink. They were swallowed up by wine they trembled from liquor. They have erred in drunkenness. They ate gluttonously.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For these have trespassed through wine; they have erred through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are mad through strong drink, they are swallowed up by reason of wine, they have staggered through drunkenness; they have erred: this is their vision.

Contemporary English Version
Priests and prophets stumble because they are drunk. Their minds are too confused to receive God's messages or give honest decisions.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment.

English Revised Version
But these also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are gone astray; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are gone astray through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Priests and prophets stagger from wine and wobble from too much liquor. They stagger from too much liquor and become confused from too much wine. They wobble because of their liquor. They stagger when they see visions. They swerve as they judge.

Good News Translation
Even the prophets and the priests are so drunk that they stagger. They have drunk so much wine and liquor that they stumble in confusion. The prophets are too drunk to understand the visions that God sends, and the priests are too drunk to decide the cases that are brought to them.

International Standard Version
These people also stagger from wine and reel from strong drink. Priests and prophets stagger from strong drink; they're drunk from wine; they reel from strong drink, waver when seeing visions, and stumble when rendering decisions.

JPS Tanakh 1917
But these also reel through wine, And stagger through strong drink; The priest and the prophet reel through strong drink, They are confused because of wine, They stagger because of strong drink; They reel in vision, they totter in judgment.

Literal Standard Version
And even these have erred through wine, | And have wandered through strong drink, | Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, | They have been swallowed up of the wine, | They wandered because of the strong drink, | They have erred in seeing, | They have stumbled judicially.

Majority Standard Bible
These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.

New American Bible
But these also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priest and prophet stagger from strong drink, overpowered by wine; They are confused by strong drink, they stagger in their visions, they totter when giving judgment.

NET Bible
Even these men stagger because of wine, they stumble around because of beer--priests and prophets stagger because of beer, they are confused because of wine, they stumble around because of beer; they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, they totter while making legal decisions.

New Revised Standard Version
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.

New Heart English Bible
They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment.

Webster's Bible Translation
But 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 overwhelmed with wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

World English Bible
They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment.

Young's Literal Translation
And even these through wine have erred, And through strong drink have wandered, Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, They have been swallowed up of the wine, They wandered because of the strong drink, They have erred in seeing, They have stumbled judicially.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment on Ephraim
6a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. 7These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments. 8For all their tables are covered with vomit; there is not a place without filth.…

Cross References
Leviticus 10:9
"You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink when you enter the Tent of Meeting, or else you will die; this is a permanent statute for the generations to come.

Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 23:30
Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.

Isaiah 5:11
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.

Isaiah 5:22
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,

Isaiah 9:15
The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.

Isaiah 19:14
The LORD has poured into her a spirit of confusion. Egypt has been led astray in all she does, as a drunkard staggers through his own vomit.


Treasury of Scripture

But 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.

erred

Isaiah 19:14
The 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.

Isaiah 56:10-12
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber…

Leviticus 10:9,10
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: …

are swallowed

Psalm 107:27
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

err in

Isaiah 3:12
As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

Isaiah 9:16
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.

Jeremiah 14:14
Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

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Beer Confused Decisions Drink Err Erred Further Judgment Overwhelmed Priest Priests Prophet Prophets Reel Rendering Right Stagger Strong Stumble Swallowed Uncertain Vision Visions Way Wine
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Beer Confused Decisions Drink Err Erred Further Judgment Overwhelmed Priest Priests Prophet Prophets Reel Rendering Right Stagger Strong Stumble Swallowed Uncertain Vision Visions Way Wine
Isaiah 28
1. The prophet threatens Ephraim for their pride and drunkenness
5. The residue shall be advanced in the kingdom of Christ
7. He rebukes their error
9. Their unwillingness to learn
14. And their security
16. Christ the sure foundation is promised
17. Their security shall be tried
23. They are incited to the consideration of God's providence














(7) But they also have erred through . . .--Better, yet these also reel . . . Isaiah acts on the method of Nathan when he said, "Thou art the man." He has painted the drunkards of Ephraim; now he turns and paints in yet darker colours the drunkards of Judah. Priests were seen reeling to their services, prophets reeling in the very act of their counterfeit inspiration. The threefold iteration of the word for "reel" emphasises the scandals of the scene. The sins of the sons of Eli, those of which Micah (Isaiah 2:11) had spoken, were reproduced in all their enormity. The most loathsome features of their drunkenness are printed in Isaiah 28:8 with a boldness which is almost photographic. The prohibition of wine during the time when the priests were on duty (Leviticus 10:1-9) adds to the guilt thus represented.

Verses 7-10. - JUDAH'S SINFULNESS. The reformation effected by Hezekiah was but a half-reformation. It put away idolatry, but it left untouched a variety of moral evils, as:

1. Drunkenness. Judah was no whir behind Ephraim in respect of this vice. The very priests and "prophets" gave way to the disgusting habit, and came drunk to the most solemn functions of religious teaching and hearing causes.

2. Scorn and mockery of God's true prophets. The teaching of Isaiah was made light of by the officials of the priestly and prophetic orders, who claimed to be quite as competent to instruct men in their duties as himself. They seem to have ridiculed the mode of his teaching - its catch-words, as they thought them, and its insistence on minutiae. Verse 7. - They also. Judah, no less than Ephraim (see vers. 1, 3). It has been questioned whether literal intoxication is meant, and suggested that Judah "imitated the pride and unbelief and spiritual intoxication of Ephraim" (Kay). But the numerous passages which tax both the Israelites and the Jews of the period with drunkenness (Isaiah 5:11, 22; Isaiah 22:13; Isaiah 56:12; Hosea 4:11; Hosea 7:5; Amos 6:6, etc.), are best understood literally. Orientals (e.g, the Persians) are often given to such indulgence. Have erred through wine; rather, reel with wine. Are out of the way; or, stagger. The verbs express the physical effects of intoxication. The priest and the prophet. Priests were forbidden by the Law to drink any wine or strong drink previously to their taking part in the service of the tabernacle (Leviticus 10:9), and the prohibition was always understood to apply afortiori to the temple (Ezekiel 44:21). Prophets might have been expected to act in the spirit of the command given to priests. By "prophets" here Isaiah means, not persons especially called of God, but official members of the prophetical order. Of these there were always many in Judah, who had no strong sense of religion (see Isaiah 29:10; Jeremiah 5:13, 31; Ezekiel 13:2-16; Amos 2:12; Micah 3:11; Zephaniah 3:4, etc.). They err in vision; rather, they reel in the vision. They are drunken, even in the very exercise of their prophetical office - when they see, and expound, their visions. They stumble in judgment; or, they stagger when pronouncing judgment (Delitzsch). Persons in authority had been specially warned not to drink wine before the hearing of causes (Proverbs 31:4, 5).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
These
אֵ֙לֶּה֙ (’êl·leh)
Pronoun - common plural
Strong's 428: These, those

also
וְגַם־ (wə·ḡam-)
Conjunctive waw | Conjunction
Strong's 1571: Assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

stagger
שָׁג֔וּ (šā·ḡū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7686: To stray, to mistake, to transgress, to reel, be enraptured

from wine
בַּיַּ֣יִן (bay·ya·yin)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3196: Wine, intoxication

and stumble
תָּע֑וּ (tā·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 8582: To vacillate, reel, stray

from strong drink:
וּבַשֵּׁכָ֖ר (ū·ḇaš·šê·ḵār)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7941: An intoxicant, intensely alcoholic liquor

Priests
כֹּהֵ֣ן (kō·hên)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest

and prophets
וְנָבִיא֩ (wə·nā·ḇî)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5030: A spokesman, speaker, prophet

reel
שָׁג֨וּ (šā·ḡū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7686: To stray, to mistake, to transgress, to reel, be enraptured

from strong drink
בַשֵּׁכָ֜ר (ḇaš·šê·ḵār)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7941: An intoxicant, intensely alcoholic liquor

and are befuddled
נִבְלְע֣וּ (niḇ·lə·‘ū)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 1104: To swallow down, swallow up, engulf

by
מִן־ (min-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

wine.
הַיַּ֗יִן (hay·ya·yin)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3196: Wine, intoxication

They stumble
תָּעוּ֙ (tā·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 8582: To vacillate, reel, stray

because of
מִן־ (min-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

strong drink,
הַשֵּׁכָ֔ר (haš·šê·ḵār)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7941: An intoxicant, intensely alcoholic liquor

muddled
שָׁגוּ֙ (šā·ḡū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7686: To stray, to mistake, to transgress, to reel, be enraptured

in their visions
בָּֽרֹאֶ֔ה (bā·rō·’eh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7203: A seer, a vision

and stumbling
פָּק֖וּ (pā·qū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6328: To reel, totter

in their judgments.
פְּלִילִיָּֽה׃ (pə·lî·lî·yāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6417: The giving of a decision


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 28:7 They also reel with wine and stagger (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 28:6
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