Isaiah 5:11

11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame[a] them!

Isaiah 5:11 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 5:11

Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning
To rise up early in the morning is healthful, and to rise to do business is commendable; but to spend the day in drunkenness and intemperance is very criminal, which is here meant: [that] they may follow, strong drink;
not only drink it, but follow on to drink; diligently seek after it, where the best is to be had; go from house to house till they have found it; closely follow the drinking of it, till inebriated with it: that continue until night;
at their pots, with their drinking companions, even all the day till night comes, the twilight either of the evening or of the morning: [till] wine inflame them;
their bodies with heat, and their souls with lust.

Isaiah 5:11 In-Context

9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant.
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.

Footnotes 1

The King James Version is in the public domain.