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

Advice on How to Live

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

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19 Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.
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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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

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

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