Parallel Verses
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.
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?
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
Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.
4
It is not for kings to
Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
Phrases
Cross References
Ecclesiastes 10:17
Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Isaiah 5:22
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
Leviticus 10:9-10
"Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
1 Kings 20:12
When Ben-hadad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, "Take your positions." And they took their positions against the city.
1 Kings 20:16-20
And they went out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him.
Esther 3:15
The couriers went out hurriedly by order of the king, and the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. And the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was thrown into confusion.
Isaiah 28:7-8
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.
Daniel 5:2-4
Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
Hosea 4:11-12
whoredom, wine, and new wine, which take away the understanding.
Hosea 7:3-5
By their evil they make the king glad, and the princes by their treachery.
Habakkuk 2:5
"Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples."
Mark 6:21-28
But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.