20 Wine is a mocker,(A) beer is a brawler;
whoever goes astray[a] because of them is not wise.

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Footnotes

  1. 20:1 Or whoever staggers

20 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,
    and any who go astray by it are not wise.

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17 The one who loves pleasure will become poor;
whoever loves wine and oil will not get rich.(A)

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17 A man of want is he who loves pleasure;
    he who loves wine and oil[a] will not become rich.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:17 Or “fat”

20 Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine(A)
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.(B)
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.(C)

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20 Do not be among drinkers of wine,
    among gluttonous eaters of their meat.[a]
21 For the drunkard and gluttonous, they will become poor,
    and with rags, drowsiness will clothe them.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:20 Literally “meat for them”

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?(A)
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine;
those who go looking for mixed wine.(B)
31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,(C)
because it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.(D)
32 In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.[a](E)
34 You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
35 “They struck me, but[b] I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!(F)
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”(G)

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Footnotes

  1. 23:33 Or will speak perversities, or inverted things
  2. 23:35 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read me,” you will say, “but

29 To whom is woe? To whom is sorrow? To whom are quarrels? To whom is complaint?
    To whom are wounds without cause? To whom is redness of the eyes?
30 To those who linger over wine,
    to those who come to try mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles[a] on the cup,
    going down smoothly.
32 In the end,[b] it will bite like a serpent,
    and it will sting like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your heart[c] will speak perverse things.
34 And you will be like him who lies down in the heart of the sea,
    and like him who lies down on top of a mast.
35 “They struck me; I was not hurt. They beat me; I did not know it.
    When I will awake, I will continue; I will seek it again.”

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:31 Literally “gives its eye”
  2. Proverbs 23:32 Literally “end him”
  3. Proverbs 23:33 Or “mind”

It is not for kings, Lemuel,
it is not for kings(A) to drink wine(B)
or for rulers to desire beer.
Otherwise, he will drink,
forget what is decreed,(C)
and pervert justice for all the oppressed.[a](D)
Give beer to one who is dying
and wine to one whose life is bitter.(E)
Let him drink so that he can forget his poverty
and remember his trouble no more.(F)

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Footnotes

  1. 31:5 Lit sons of affliction

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”