(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,
For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,
not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.
“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.