Proverbs 31:4
Not to kings, O Lamuel, not to kings give wine. For there are no secrets where drunkenness reigns.
Catholic Public Domain Version
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 substance to women, or your riches to overthrow kings.
5And perhaps they may drink and forget judgments, and alter the case of the sons of the poor.
Cross References
Leviticus 10:9“You shall not drink wine, nor anything that is able to inebriate you or your sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die. For it is an everlasting precept in your generations.
1 Kings 20:12Then it happened that, when Benhadad had heard this word, he and the kings were drinking in a pavilion. And he said to his servants, “Encircle the city.” And they encircled it.
Esther 1:10And so, on the seventh day, when the king was more cheerful, and, after excessive drinking, had become warmed with wine, he ordered Mehuman, and Biztha, and Harbona, and Bigtha, and Abagtha, and Zethar, and Charkas, seven eunuchs who served in his presence,
Proverbs 20:1It is a luxurious thing, wine, and inebriation is tumultuous. Anyone who is delighted by this will not be wise.
Ecclesiastes 10:17Blessed is the land whose king is noble, and whose princes eat at the proper time, for refreshment and not for self-indulgence.
Isaiah 28:7Yet truly, these also have been ignorant due to wine, and they have gone astray due to inebriation. The priest and the prophet have been ignorant because of inebriation. They have been absorbed by wine. They have staggered in drunkenness. They have not known the One who sees. They have been ignorant of judgment.
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 →