“Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
And valiant men in mixing strong drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!”
Isaiah 5:22-23 NASB1995
At first glance in this last woe in chapter 5 Isaiah seems to be condemning again those who indulge in wine and strong drink, similarly to Isaiah 5:11. But there is a distinction: This intoxicated state leads to injustice, where a person in authority (like a judge) justifies the wicked for a bribe and takes away the rights of the ones are in the right. The AI image at the top has this scenario neatly pegged.
Here is what Pulpit Commentary says about this passage from the Bible Hub:
Verse 22. - Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine. The sixth woe seems at first sight a repetition of the second. But there is this difference, that the drinkers in the present verse do not succumb to their liquor, or remain at the banquet all day, but proceed to the business of their lives, attend courts and judge causes, but with brain obfuscated and moral vision bedimmed, so that they are easily induced to pervert justice on receipt of a bribe. The sixth woe may be considered to be pronounced rather upon their corruption than upon their drinking, and so to be really quite distinct from the second (comp. Proverbs 31:4, 5). Isaiah 5:22.
This woe is directed at the corruption of those in charge of dispensing justice in Judah and Jerusalem. Verse 23 is really the key to the sins that Isaiah is observing. That corruption is made even more despicable by the inebriation of the judge. Here are some other scriptural passages about bribes and the perversion of justice:
““You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.
“You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.”
Exodus 23:6-8 NASB1995
“These also are sayings of the wise.
To show partiality in judgment is not good.
He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him;
But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.”
Proverbs 24:23-25 NASB1995
“You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.”
Deuteronomy 16:19 NASB1995
“Now then let the fear of the Lord be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the Lord our God will have no part in unrighteousness or partiality or the taking of a bribe.””
2 Chronicles 19:7 NASB1995
That last passage, from 2 Chronicles 19, is describing the reforms to the justice system that were undertaken by Jehoshaphat, one of the kings of Judah who tried to bring the people back to God.
Our nation has been riveted by the trial of a mother in Massachusetts who methodically murdered her three children after ensuring her husband would not get home to stop her, then tried to kill herself and then researched ways to offer up a plea of insanity due to her supposed mental state. I referred to this trial in the earlier devotional about Isaiah 5:20 (“woe to those who call evil good”). The trial ended in a mistrial on Friday (9/4) because one juror held out against the pressure to declare this person not guilty by reason of insanity (or even just not guilty, period). That juror has been shockingly and publicly vilified by the defense attorney, likely putting the juror’s life at risk because his name will certainly be leaked out (there were three male jurors on the panel). The defense attorney also made this statement after the mistrial was declared:
“I’m representing a woman who is a fantastic, wonderful individual. This woman is so brave, so awesome. Every day she came in this courthouse, stood tall, no pun intended.”
“The poor thing is in a wheelchair. As we all know for the rest of her life. And sat there through seven weeks of a trial where nobody had anything bad to say about her except for the two prosecutors…”
I confess that I felt nauseous after reading this. People in this country are used to flamboyant and deceitful attorneys, especially after such infamous miscarriages of justice as the O.J. Simpson case; apparently this guy is quite famous for helping get insanity pleas, even in cases where that is a true miscarriage of justice. Regardless of any empathy you may feel for the defendant’s “mental state”, she murdered her three children in cold blood. Her paralysis is of her own doing. She is not a wonderful individual. According to trial testimony, the first thing she asked for after waking up in the hospital after jumping from a second-story at her home was for someone to get her a lawyer. She didn’t ask about her children. She’s not off the hook yet, but the prosecution will have an impossible task to take this to trial again.
Speaking of the prosecution, the District Attorney for this case had this encounter with the media on Friday (his name is removed and replaced with blank because I don’t want my comments to become a pro-murderer cesspool from AI searches):
As he answered questions from reporters after the mistrial was declared, blank was asked by a journalist about what he would “say to those people who felt that the whole prosecution was insensitive,” per footage of the exchange posted on social media.
“Was what?” Blank asked in disbelief. “Insensitive? Insensitive is killing three children. Insensitive is ignoring those facts,” he retorted.
But justice has been perverted and distorted because the true judge and jury were millions of (mostly) women who bought into social media conspiracies about this case and brought pressure to bear (almost like a type of bribery). Strong wine was probably not involved, but excessive doom scrolling (another addiction) was indeed a factor. These women have given millions to funds supporting the mother. The children don’t matter because so many in our culture have decided that children are a burden and not a joy or gift from God. How many more children will be destroyed by their mothers in solidarity? What’s really pathetic is that half of this nation is cheering for the wicked being called righteous, in direct contradiction to Proverbs 24:23-25.
All right, enough pontificating, Barb - let’s summarize the six woes of Isaiah again:
Isaiah 5:8-10 - Greed/covetousness
Isaiah 5:11-17 - Drunkenness
Isaiah 5:18-19 - Bondage/addiction to sin
Isaiah 5:20 - Redefining evil as good, darkness as light, bitterness as sweet
Isaiah 5:21 - Intellectual pride
Isaiah 5:22 - Corruption and justifying the wicked
My next devotional examines the remaining passage in Isaiah 5: Verses 24-30 - God’s anger and judgment is coming.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer
Dear Lord - Please help our nation learn what is considered true and proper justice in Your eyes. I pray for the departed souls of C, D and C. Amen.
Citations and Credits:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 09/05/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 5:22-23.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. At the link referenced, the bibliography used by David Guzik can be accessed.
Biblehub was accessed on 09/05/2026 to review commentary for Isaiah 5:22-23.