Proverbs 31:4
[It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, || Not for kings, to drink wine, || And for princes—a desire of strong drink.
Literal Standard 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 strength to women, || And your ways to wiping away of kings.
5Lest he drink, and forget the decree, || And change the judgment of any of the sons of affliction.
Cross References
Leviticus 10:9“You do not drink wine and strong drink, you and your sons with you, in your going into the Tent of Meeting, and you do not die—a continuous statute throughout your generations,
1 Kings 20:12And it comes to pass at the hearing of this word—and he is drinking, he and the kings, in the shelters—that he says to his servants, “Set yourselves”; and they set themselves against the city.
Esther 1:10On the seventh day, as the heart of the king is glad with wine, he has commanded to Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who are ministering in the presence of King Ahasuerus,
Proverbs 20:1Wine [is] a scorner—strong drink [is] noisy, || And any going astray in it is not wise.
Ecclesiastes 10:17Blessed are you, O land, || When your king [is] a son of nobles, || And your princes eat in due season, || For might, and not for drunkenness.
Isaiah 28:7And even these have erred through wine, || And have wandered through strong drink, || Priest and prophet erred through strong drink, || They have been swallowed up of the wine, || They wandered because of the strong drink, || They have erred in seeing, || They have stumbled judicially.
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 →