Proverbs 31:4 · KJV
“{It is} not for kings, O Lemuel, {it is} not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:”
— Proverbs 31:4
Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. {prevert: Heb. alter} {of any...: Heb. of all the sons of affliction}
Proverbs 31 — Context
What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?
3Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
4{It is} not for kings, O Lemuel, {it is} not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
5Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. {prevert: Heb. alter} {of any...: Heb. of all the sons of affliction}
6Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. {of...: Heb. bitter of soul}
Cross References
Proverbs 20:1
Wine {is} a mocker, strong drink {is} raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Isaiah 5:22
Woe unto {them that are} mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Ecclesiastes 10:17
Blessed {art} thou, O land, when thy king {is} the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Hosea 4:11-12
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
Habakkuk 2:5
Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, {he is} a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and {is} as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: {Yea...: or, How much more}
1 Kings 20:16-20
And they went out at noon. But Benhadad {was} drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
Daniel 5:2-4
Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which {was} in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. {father: or, grandfather} {taken: Chaldee, brought forth}
Isaiah 28:7-8
But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble {in} judgment.