Proverbs 31:4

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to take wine, or for rulers to say, Where is strong drink?

Bible in Basic English

In The King James Version

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

In Context

3Do not give your strength to women, or your ways to that which is the destruction of kings.

5For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble.

Read all of Proverbs 31

Cross References

Leviticus 10:9Take no wine, or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of meeting, that it may not be the cause of death to you; this is an order for ever through all your generations.

1 Kings 20:12Now when this answer was given to Ben-hadad, he was drinking with the kings in the tents, and he said to his men, Take up your positions. So they put themselves in position for attacking the town.

Esther 1:10On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was glad with wine, he gave orders to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven unsexed servants who were waiting before Ahasuerus the king,

Proverbs 20:1Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise.

Ecclesiastes 10:17Happy is the land whose ruler is of noble birth, and whose chiefs take food at the right time, for strength and not for feasting.

Isaiah 28:7And further, these are uncertain through wine, and have gone out of the right way through strong drink: the priest and the prophet are uncertain through strong drink, they are overcome by wine, they have gone out of the way through strong drink; their vision is false, they go wrong in their decisions.

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:2-10

Maternal Counsels to King Lemuel. 1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. 2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? 3 Give 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: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. 6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Proverbs 31:4