Parallel Verses
Julia Smith Translation
Not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink and for princes the desire of 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.
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?
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 Thou shalt not give thy strength to women, and thy ways to the destroying of kings. 4 Not for kings, O Lemuel, not for kings to drink and for princes the desire of strong drink: 5 Lest he shall drink and forget what is prescribed, and change the judgment of all the sons of affliction.
Phrases
Cross References
Ecclesiastes 10:17
Happy thou, O land: thy king the son of nobles, and thy chiefs shall eat in time, in strength and not in drinking.
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is mocking, strong drink is noisy: and every one going astray by it will not be wise.
Isaiah 5:22
Wo to the strong to drink wine, and men of strength to mix strong drink:
Leviticus 10:9-10
Wine and strong drink thou shalt not drink, thou and thy sons with thee, in your going in to the tent of appointment; and ye shall not die: a law forever to your generations.
1 Kings 20:12
And it will be when he heard this word he was drinking, and the kings in the booths; and he will say to his servants, Set ye. And they will set against the city.
1 Kings 20:16-20
And they will go forth at noon. And Ben-hadad was drinking strong drink in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings helping him.
Esther 3:15
And they running went forth, being impelled by the word of the king, and the edict was given in Shushan the fortress. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; and the city Shushan was disquieted.
Isaiah 28:7-8
And these also went astray by wine, and by strong drink they erred; the priest and the prophet went astray by strong drink, they were swallowed up from wine, they erred from strong drink, they went astray in seeing, they wavered in judgment.
Daniel 5:2-4
Belshazzar said, in tasting the wine, to bring in for the vessels of gold and silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father brought forth from the temple that was in Jerusalem; and in them the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines, will drink.
Hosea 4:11-12
Fornication and wine and new wine will take away the heart.
Hosea 7:3-5
By their evil they will gladden the king, and the chiefs by their falsehoods.
Habakkuk 2:5
And also if a proud man transgressing by wine, and he will not rest; who enlarged his soul as hades, and he as death, and he will not be satisfied, and he will gather to him all nations, and he will collect to him all peoples.
Mark 6:21-28
And a convenient day having come, when Herod in the festivities of his birthday made a supper to his leading persons,, and to the captains of thousands, and to the first of Galilee;