On Life and Conduct

20 (A)Wine is a mocker, (B)intoxicating drink a brawler,
And whoever [a]is intoxicated by it is not wise.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:1 Lit errs

Advice on How to Live

20 Wine causes mocking, and beer causes fights;
everyone led astray by them lacks wisdom.

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20 Wine(A) is a mocker(B) and beer a brawler;
    whoever is led astray(C) by them is not wise.(D)

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20 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

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19 Listen, my son, and (A)be wise,
And (B)direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not be with (C)heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with (D)gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the (E)heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And (F)drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

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19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
    commit yourself to live God’s[a] way.
20 Don’t associate with heavy drinkers
    or dine with gluttons,
21 because drunks and gluttons tend to become poor,
    and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:19 Lit. live in the

Saying 16

19 Listen, my son,(A) and be wise,
    and set your heart on the right path:
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine(B)
    or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor,(C)
    and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

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19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

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29 Who has (A)woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who (B)linger long over wine,
Those who go to [a]taste (C)mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
When it [b]sparkles in the cup,
When it (D)goes down smoothly;
32 In the end it (E)bites like a snake
And stings like a (F)viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your [c]mind will (G)say perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the [d]middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a [e]mast.
35 “They (H)struck me, but I did not become [f]ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When will I awake?
I will (I)seek [g]another drink.”

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:30 Or search out
  2. Proverbs 23:31 Lit gives its eye
  3. Proverbs 23:33 Lit heart
  4. Proverbs 23:34 Lit heart
  5. Proverbs 23:34 Or lookout
  6. Proverbs 23:35 I.e., from the effect of wounds
  7. Proverbs 23:35 Lit it yet again

On Sobriety

29 Who has woe? Who has grief?
    Who has contention? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
    Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over their wine,
    who consume mixed drinks.
31 Don’t stare into red wine,
    when it sparkles in the cup
        and goes down smoothly.
32 Eventually it will bite like a snake
    and sting like a serpent.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
    and with slurred words you’ll speak what you really believe.
34 You will be like someone who lies down in the sea,
    or like someone who sleeps on top of a mast.
35 “They struck me,” you will say,[a]
    “but I never felt it.
They beat me,
    but I never knew it.
When will I wake up?
    I want another drink.”

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:35 The Heb. lacks you will say

Saying 19

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaints?
    Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,(A)
    who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup,
    when it goes down smoothly!
32 In the end it bites like a snake
    and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights,
    and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
    lying on top of the rigging.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!
    They beat me, but I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up
    so I can find another drink?”(B)

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29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

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