Isaiah 51:21 is an invitation to listen. The prophet calls out to people who have been worn down by suffering, and who are reeling from it in a way that looks like drunkenness, though they have not touched any wine. The verse is spoken by the prophet Isaiah, who speaks for the LORD to the exiled people of Judah, the afflicted community of Jerusalem living in the shadow of defeat and displacement.
Therefore now hear this, you afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine…
Isaiah 51:21 (WEB)
What Isaiah 51:21 Means
The verse opens with “Therefore now hear this,” which signals that what follows is important and that the listeners need to pay close attention. Isaiah is not asking them to pray or to act first. He is asking them to listen, because God is about to speak words of comfort and hope to them.
The people are described as “afflicted,” meaning they have suffered and been humbled by hardship. The phrase “drunken, but not with wine” is a striking image. Their staggering, confusion, and collapse come not from alcohol but from the weight of God’s judgment they have endured. The image of staggering is repeated in the surrounding passage, where God speaks of a “cup of staggering” that will be taken from their hand.
What the verse does not promise is an immediate end to suffering. It describes a people who have been through a great deal, and it calls them to hear a message. The promise that follows in the passage is that God will remove the cup from their hand and place it on those who oppressed them. The verse itself is the opening call that leads to that assurance.
The Context of Isaiah 51:21
Isaiah is one of the major prophetic books of the Old Testament, traditionally attributed to the prophet Isaiah who ministered in Jerusalem in the eighth century before Christ. Chapters 40 through 55 are often called Second Isaiah, and many scholars believe these chapters address a later generation, the exiles in Babylon, whose homeland lay in ruins. The audience is therefore a people who had lost their land, their temple, and many of their children.
The verses just before this one describe the desperation of the city. Verse 18 speaks of there being no one to guide her among her sons, and verse 19 names the disasters of desolation, famine, and the sword. Verse 20 describes the sons lying faint at every street corner. Verse 21 then turns with the word “therefore,” shifting from lament to a direct word of hope. Read in this light, the verse is the hinge between despair and deliverance.
Key Phrases in Isaiah 51:21
Isaiah 51:22
Thus says your Lord the LORD, your God who pleads the cause of his people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more…
(WEB)
The very next verse continues the thought by announcing that God has taken the cup of staggering out of the people’s hand. Reading it right after verse 21 shows that the call to hear leads directly to the promise of relief.
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(WEB)
This psalm describes God as a refuge and strength who is present in trouble. It echoes the same truth found in Isaiah: that the afflicted can find steady ground in the Lord when everything else is shaking.
A Short Prayer From Isaiah 51:21
Lord, I come to you today feeling unsteady and worn thin by the weight of what I am carrying. Help me to stop and hear your voice above the noise of my worries. Speak your comfort into the places where I feel afflicted and confused, and steady my feet where I have been stumbling. Remind me that you see me, that you care for me, and that you are able to lift the burdens I cannot carry alone. Teach me to rest in your word and to trust that you are at work even when I cannot see the way forward. Amen.
