Proverbs 31:4

A! Lemuel, do not thou give wine to kings; for no private there is, where drunkenness reigneth. (O Lemuel! do not thou give wine to kings; for there is no secret place, where drunkenness can reign.)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

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 thou not thy chattel to women (or Give thou not all thy substance to women), and thy riches to do away kings.

5Lest peradventure they drink, and forget dooms, and change the cause of the sons of a poor man. (Lest perhaps they drink, and forget justice, and pervert the cause of the poor.)

Read all of Proverbs 31

Cross References

Leviticus 10:9Thou and thy sons shall not drink wine, and all thing that may make drunken, when ye shall enter into the tabernacle of witnessing, lest ye die; for it is everlasting behest into your generations, (Thou and thy sons shall not drink wine, or anything that can make ye drunk, when ye shall enter into the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, lest ye die; this is an everlasting law for all your generations,)

1 Kings 20:12And it was done, when Benhadad had heard this word, he drank, and also the kings, in shadowing places (or in a shady place in their tents); and he said to his servants, Compass ye the city. And they compassed it.

Esther 1:10Therefore in the seventh day, when the king was gladder than before, and when he was hot of wine after full much drinking, he commanded to Mehuman, and to Biztha, and to Harbona, and to Bigtha, and to Zethar, and to Abagtha, and to Carcas, seven honest and chaste servants, the which served in his sight, (And so on the seventh day, when the king was happier than before, and he was hot with the wine after a great deal of drinking, he commanded to Mehuman, and Biztha, Harbona, and Bigtha, Zethar, and Abagtha, and Carcas, seven geldings, or eunuchs, who served him,)

Proverbs 20:1Wine is a lecherous thing, and drunkenness is full of noise; whoever delighteth in these, shall not be wise.

Ecclesiastes 10:17Blessed is the land, whose king is noble; and whose princes eat in their time, to (only) sustain the (ir) kind, and not to lechery. (Happy is the land, whose king is well born, or refined; and whose leaders eat at the proper time, only to sustain themselves, and not unto drunkenness.)

Isaiah 28:7But also they knew not for wine, and erred for drunkenness; the priest and (the) prophet knew not for drunkenness; they were sopped up of wine, they erred in drunkenness; they knew not a prophet, they knew not doom. (But they also knew not because of the wine, and wandered about in drunkenness; yea, the priest and the prophet knew not because of drunkenness; they were swallowed up by wine, and so they wandered about in drunkenness, and they knew not prophecy, and they did not have good judgement.)

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 →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Proverbs 31:4