Proverbs 31:4
Give not to kings, O Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth:
Douay-Rheims 1899
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
3Give not thy substance to women, and thy riches to destroy kings.
5And lest they drink and forget judgments, and pervert the cause of the children of the poor.
Cross References
Leviticus 10:9You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk, thou nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die: because it is an everlasting precept through your generations :
1 Kings 20:12And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it.
Esther 1:10Now on the seventh day, when the king was merry, and after very much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded Mauman, and Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and Zethar, and Charcas, the seven eunuchs that served in his presence,
Proverbs 20:1Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever is delighted therewith shell not be wise.
Ecclesiastes 10:17Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness.
Isaiah 28:7But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, 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 →