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It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
    it is not for kings to drink wine
    or for rulers to desire[a] strong drink,(A)
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
    and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
Give strong drink to one who is perishing
    and wine to those in bitter distress;
let them drink and forget their poverty
    and remember their misery no more.

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Footnotes

  1. 31.4 Cn: Heb where

It is not for the kings, O Lemuel;
    drinking wine is not for the kings,
    nor is strong drink for rulers.
Or else he will drink and forget what has been decreed,
    and he will pervert the rights[a] of all the afflicted.[b]
Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
    and wine to those in bitter distress.[c]
He will drink and forget his poverty,
    and his misery he will not remember any more.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 31:5 Hebrew “right”
  2. Proverbs 31:5 Literally “sons of affliction”
  3. Proverbs 31:6 Literally “to bitterness of soul”