Jeremiah 25:16

And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the sword that I will send among them.”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Lord speaks through Jeremiah to the prophet regarding the impending judgment on all the nations he is sent to. This declaration occurs at the moment Jeremiah is commanded to take the cup of the wine of wrath and force every nation to drink it.

The words — The text uses הִתְגֹּֽעֲשׁוּ (hit.go.'a.Shu), meaning "they will stagger to and fro," and חֶ֔רֶב (Che.rev), meaning "the sword." These terms describe the physical disorientation and violent destruction that result from drinking the cup of wrath.

The thread — The imagery of drinking wine to the point of staggering appears in Jeremiah 51:7, which describes Babylon as a cup making the earth drunk, and in Nahum 3:11, where drunkenness precedes hiding from the enemy. Jeremiah 25:27 immediately follows with the command to drink, get drunk, and vomit.

Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that divine judgment operates through tangible, inescapable consequences rather than abstract threats. It requires the reader to accept that rebellion against God culminates in loss of control and violent ruin.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְשָׁת֕וּve./sha.Tuand/ they will drink וְהִֽתְגֹּֽעֲשׁ֖וּve./hit.go.'a.Shuand/ they will stagger to and fro וְהִתְהֹלָ֑לוּve./hit.ho.La.luand/ they will act like mad people מִפְּנֵ֣יmi./pe.Nei<from>/ because of הַחֶ֔רֶבha./Che.revthe/ sword אֲשֶׁ֛ר'a.Sherwhich אָנֹכִ֥י'a.no.KhiI שֹׁלֵ֖חַsho.Le.ach[am] about to send בֵּינֹתָֽם׃bei.no.Ta/mbetween/ them

King James Version

And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will send among them.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 51:7 Babylon 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.
Nahum 3:11 You too will become drunk; you will go into hiding and seek refuge from the enemy.
Jeremiah 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.’
Jeremiah 51:39 While 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.
Lamentations 4:21 So 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.
Ezekiel 23:32 This 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.
Revelation 14:10 he 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.
Revelation 16:9 And 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.
Revelation 18:3 All 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.”
Lamentations 3:15 He has filled me with bitterness; He has intoxicated me with wormwood.