20  ^yWine is a mocker, ^zstrong drink a brawler,

and whoever ^ais led astray by it is not wise.¹

17  Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;

he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

20  Be not among ^zdrunkards¹

or among ^agluttonous eaters of meat,

21  for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and ^bslumber will clothe them with rags.

29  ^lWho has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has ^mwounds without cause?

Who has ⁿredness of eyes?

30  Those who ^otarry long over wine;

those who go to try ^pmixed wine.

31  Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

32  In the end it ^qbites like a serpent

and stings like an adder.

33  Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter ^rperverse things.

34  You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast.¹

35  “They ^sstruck me,” you will say,² “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I ^tmust have another drink.”

4  ^jIt is not for kings, O Lemuel,

it is not for kings ^kto drink wine,

or for rulers to take ^lstrong drink,

5  lest they drink and forget what has been decreed

and ^mpervert the rights of all the afflicted.

6  Give strong drink to the one who ⁿis perishing,

and wine to ^othose in bitter distress;¹

7  ^plet them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.