Proverbs 31:4
New International Version
It is not for kings, Lemuel— it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer,

New Living Translation
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle wine. Rulers should not crave alcohol.

English Standard Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink,

Berean Standard Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,

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

New King James Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink;

New American Standard Bible
It is not for kings, Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire intoxicating drink,

NASB 1995
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink,

NASB 1977
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink,

Legacy Standard Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink,

Amplified Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink,

Christian Standard Bible
It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire beer.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire beer.

American Standard Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Beware of Kings, Moayl, of Kings that drink wine, and of Rulers that drink strong drink

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Princes are prone to anger: let them then not drink wine:

Contemporary English Version
Kings and leaders should not get drunk or even want to drink.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Give not to kings, O Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth:

English Revised Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"It is not for kings, Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to crave liquor.

Good News Translation
Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not drink wine or have a craving for alcohol.

International Standard Version
It is not for kings, Lemuel— Not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire liquor.

JPS Tanakh 1917
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine: Nor for princes to say: 'Where is strong drink?'

Literal Standard Version
[It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, | Not for kings, to drink wine, | And for princes—a desire of strong drink.

Majority Standard Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,

New American Bible
It is not for kings, Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine; strong drink is not for princes,

NET Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,

New Revised Standard Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink;

New Heart English Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for princes to take strong drink,

Webster's Bible Translation
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

World English Bible
It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to say, ‘Where is strong drink?’

Young's Literal Translation
Not for kings, O Lemuel, Not for kings, to drink wine, And for princes a desire of strong drink.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Words of King Lemuel
3Do not spend your strength on women or your vigor on those who ruin kings. 4It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink, 5lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice.…

Cross References
1 Kings 20:12
Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, "Take your positions." So they stationed themselves against the city.

Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

Ecclesiastes 10:17
Blessed are you, O land whose king is a son of nobles, and whose princes feast at the proper time--for strength and not for drunkenness.

Isaiah 5:22
Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing beer,

Hosea 4:11
Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.


Treasury of Scripture

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

Leviticus 10:9,10
Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: …

1 Kings 20:12,16-20
And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city…

Esther 3:15
The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.

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Proverbs 31
1. Lemuel's lesson of chastity and temperance
6. The afflicted are to be comforted and defended
10. The praise and properties of a good wife














(4) It is not for kings to drink wine.--Another of the temptations of kings. (Comp. 1Kings 16:9; 1Kings 20:16; Ecclesiastes 10:17.) Perversion of justice as the result of revelry is also noted by Isaiah (Isaiah 5:22-23). Comp. St. Paul's advice to "use this world so as not abusing," or rather "using it to the full" (1Corinthians 7:31)

Verses 4-7. - The second admonition. A warning against inebriety, and concerning a proper use of strong drink. Verse 4. - It is not for kings; or, as others read, far be it from kings. The injunction is repeated to indicate its vast importance. Nor for princes strong drink; literally, nor for princes (the word), Where is strong drink? (see on Proverbs 20:1; and comp. Job 15:23). The evils of intemperance, flagrant enough in the case of a private person, are greatly enhanced in the case of a king, whose misdeeds may affect a whole community, as the next verse intimates. St. Jerome reads differently, translating, "Because there is no secret where drunkenness reigns." This is in accordance with the proverb, "When wine goes in the secret comes out;" and, "Where drink enters, wisdom departs;" and again, "Quod latet in mente sobrii, hoc natat in ore ebrii." Septuagint, "The powerful are irascible, but let them not drink wine." "Drunkenness," says Jeremy Taylor ('Holy Living,' ch. 3, § 2), "opens all the sanctuaries of nature, and discovers the nakedness of the soul, all its weaknesses and follies; it multiplies sins and discovers them; it makes a man incapable of being a private friend or a public counsellor. It taketh a man's soul into slavery and imprisonment more than any vice whatsoever, because it disarms a man of all his reason and his wisdom, whereby he might be cured, and, therefore, commonly it grows upon him with age; a drunkard being still more a fool and less a man."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
It is not
אַ֤ל (’al)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

for kings,
לַֽמְלָכִ֨ים ׀ (lam·lā·ḵîm)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4428: A king

O Lemuel,
לְֽמוֹאֵ֗ל (lə·mō·w·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3927: Lemuel -- king of Massa

it is not
אַ֣ל (’al)
Adverb
Strong's 408: Not

for kings
לַֽמְלָכִ֣ים (lam·lā·ḵîm)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4428: A king

to drink
שְׁתוֹ־ (šə·ṯōw-)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8354: To imbibe

wine,
יָ֑יִן (yā·yin)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3196: Wine, intoxication

or for rulers
וּ֝לְרוֹזְנִ֗ים (ū·lə·rō·wz·nîm)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 7336: To be weighty, judicious or commanding

[to crave]
אֵ֣י (’ê)
Interrogative
Strong's 176: Desire, if

strong drink,
שֵׁכָֽר׃ (šê·ḵār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7941: An intoxicant, intensely alcoholic liquor


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