Isaiah 51:17

The ‘cup of anger’ is a picture in words. It refers to the *Lord’s punishment of his people, because they refused to obey him.

• The punishment was severe. So the people felt like men who had swallowed too much alcohol.

*Jerusalem was like a mother who had lost her children

v18 There was nobody to guide you among all the sons that you had *borne. There was nobody in your family to lead you by the hand. v19 Two terrible troubles happened to you. War ruined your land. Your people starved. But there was nobody to offer you sympathy. v20 At the corner of every street your people fell, because they were so weak. They were like animals that a hunter’s net had caught. Your people suffered the absolute force of the *Lord’s anger.