Parallel Verses
A Conservative Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for rulers [to say], Where is strong drink?
New American Standard Bible
It is not for kings to
Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
King James Version
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Holman Bible
it is not for kings
or for rulers to desire beer.
International Standard Version
It is not for kings, Lemuel Not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire liquor.
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?
Amplified
It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
Bible in Basic English
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to take wine, or for rulers to say, Where is strong drink?
Darby Translation
It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for rulers to say, Where is the strong drink?
Julia Smith Translation
Not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink and for princes the desire of strong drink:
King James 2000
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Lexham Expanded Bible
[It is] not for the kings, O Lemuel; drinking wine [is] not for the kings, nor [is] strong drink for rulers.
Modern King James verseion
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes to lust for strong drink;
Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale
O Lemuel, give kings no wine, give kings and princes no strong drink;
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 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,
The Emphasized Bible
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor, for dignitaries, to desire strong drink,
Webster
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?'
Youngs Literal Translation
Not for kings, O Lemuel, Not for kings, to drink wine, And for princes a desire of strong drink.
Themes
Abstinence » Total abstinence » Strong Drink » Rule for kings
Total abstinence » From intoxicating beverages
Drunkenness » Who should not drink
Government » The kings of the earth
King » Drunkenness of, forbidden
Kings » Specially warned against » Intemperance
Lemuel » Probably refers to solomon
Magistrates » Wisdom and integrity essential to
Rulers' » Wisdom and integrity essential to
Sobriety » Who should be sober
Social duties » Total abstinence from strong drink » Rule for kings
Temperance » Total abstinence » Rule for kings
The Nation » Of israel and judah rulers » Wisdom and integrity essential to
Topics
Interlinear
References
Word Count of 20 Translations in Proverbs 31:4
Verse Info
Context Readings
The Oracle Of King Lemuel
3 Give not thy strength to women, nor thy ways to that which destroys kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for rulers [to say], Where is strong drink? 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the justice [due] to any who is afflicted.
Phrases
Cross References
Ecclesiastes 10:17
Happy are thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy rulers feast in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever errs thereby is not wise.
Isaiah 5:22
Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink,
Leviticus 10:9-10
Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye not die--it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations--
1 Kings 20:12
And it came to pass, when [Ben-hadad] heard this message as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said to his servants, Set [yourselves in array]. And they set [themselves in array] against the city.
1 Kings 20:16-20
And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty-two kings who helped him.
Esther 3:15
The posts went forth in haste by the king's commandment, and the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Shushan was perplexed.
Isaiah 28:7-8
And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up of wine. They stagger with strong drink; they err in vision; they stumble in judgment.
Daniel 5:2-4
Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, m
Hosea 4:11-12
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the understanding.
Hosea 7:3-5
They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the rulers with their lies.
Habakkuk 2:5
Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous.) [He is] a haughty man, who does not keep at home, who enlarges his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathers to him all nations, and heaps to him all peoples.
Mark 6:21-28
And having become a convenient day, when Herod on his birthday made a dinner for his chiefs, and the high captains, and the leading men of Galilee,