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New Century Version

Proverbs 20:1

Wine and beer make people loud and uncontrolled; it is not wise to get drunk on them.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Abomination;   Drunkenness;   Wine;   Thompson Chain Reference - Drink, Strong;   Drunkenness;   Intemperance;   Intoxication;   Temperance;   Temperance-Intemperance;   Wine;   The Topic Concordance - Drunkenness;   Mockery;   Wisdom;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Drunkenness;   Wine;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Drunkenness;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Grapes;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Drunkenness;   Pardon;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Drink, Strong;   Wine;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Wisdom and Wise Men;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Wine and Strong Drink;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Wine;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Drink, Strong;   Drunkenness;   Err;   Liquor;   Mock;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Asmodeus;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Wine is a mocker, beer is a brawler;
Hebrew Names Version
Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler; Whoever is let astray by them is not wise.
King James Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
English Standard Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
New American Standard Bible
Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.
Amplified Bible
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler; And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.
World English Bible
Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler; Whoever is let astray by them is not wise.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Wine is a mocker and strong drinke is raging: and whosoeuer is deceiued thereby, is not wise.
Legacy Standard Bible
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler,And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Berean Standard Bible
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Contemporary English Version
It isn't smart to get drunk! Drinking makes a fool of you and leads to fights.
Complete Jewish Bible
Wine is a mocker, strong liquor a rowdy; anyone led astray by it is unwise.
Darby Translation
Wine is a scorner, strong drink is raging; and whoso erreth thereby is not wise.
Easy-to-Read Version
Wine and beer make people lose control; they get loud and stumble around. And that is foolish.
George Lamsa Translation
WINE is grievous, drunkenness is shameful; and whosoever drinks excessively is not wise.
Good News Translation
Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It's stupid to get drunk.
Lexham English Bible
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and any who go astray by it are not wise.
Literal Translation
Wine is a mocker, fermented drink is stirring, and each one straying by it is not wise.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Wyne is a voluptuous thinge, & drockennes causeth sedicion: who so delyteth therin, shal neuer be wyse.
American Standard Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise.
Bible in Basic English
Wine makes men foolish, and strong drink makes men come to blows; and whoever comes into error through these is not wise.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is riotous; and whosoever reeleth thereby is not wise.
King James Version (1611)
Wine is a mocker, strong drinke is raging: and whosoeuer is deceiued thereby, is not wise.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Wine maketh a man to be scornefull, & strong drinke causeth a man to be vnquiet: who so delighteth therin shall not be wyse.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink full of violence: but every fool is entangled with them.
English Revised Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; and whosoever erreth thereby is not wise.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Wiyn is a letcherouse thing and drunkenesse is ful of noise; who euere delitith in these, schal not be wijs.
Update Bible Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; And whoever errs thereby is not wise.
Webster's Bible Translation
Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging: and whoever is deceived by it is not wise.
New English Translation
Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler; whoever goes astray by them is not wise.
New King James Version
Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
New Living Translation
Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.
New Life Bible
Wine makes people act in a foolish way. Strong drink starts fights. Whoever is fooled by it is not wise.
New Revised Standard
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Wine is, a scoffer, and strong drink, a brawler, every one therefore who erreth therein, is unwise.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever is delighted therewith, shall not be wise.
Revised Standard Version
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Young's Literal Translation
Wine [is] a scorner -- strong drink [is] noisy, And any going astray in it is not wise.
THE MESSAGE
Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome— a staggering drunk is not much fun.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

Contextual Overview

1 Wine and beer make people loud and uncontrolled; it is not wise to get drunk on them.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 23:29-35, Proverbs 31:4, Genesis 9:21-23, Genesis 19:31-36, 1 Samuel 25:36-38, 2 Samuel 11:13, 2 Samuel 13:28, 1 Kings 20:16-21, Isaiah 28:7, Hosea 4:11, Hosea 7:5, Habakkuk 2:15, Habakkuk 2:16, 1 Corinthians 6:10, Galatians 5:21, Ephesians 5:18

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:33 - drink Deuteronomy 21:20 - he is a glutton Esther 1:10 - the heart Psalms 94:9 - He that planted Proverbs 23:20 - not Proverbs 23:30 - tarry Ecclesiastes 2:3 - yet Ecclesiastes 10:16 - and Isaiah 5:11 - inflame Habakkuk 2:5 - he transgresseth

Cross-References

Genesis 10:19
Their land reached from Sidon to Gerar as far as Gaza, and then to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
Genesis 13:1
So Abram, his wife, and Lot left Egypt, taking everything they owned, and traveled to southern Canaan.
Genesis 14:7
Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh). They defeated all the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.
Genesis 16:1
Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, but she had a slave girl from Egypt named Hagar.
Genesis 16:7
The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the desert, by the road to Shur.
Genesis 16:14
So the well there, between Kadesh and Bered, was called Beer Lahai Roi.
Genesis 18:1
Later, the Lord again appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day.
Genesis 20:13
When God told me to leave my father's house and wander in many different places, I told Sarah, ‘You must do a special favor for me. Everywhere we go tell people I am your brother.'"
Genesis 20:14
Then Abimelech gave Abraham some sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves. He also gave Sarah, Abraham's wife, back to him
Genesis 24:62
At this time Isaac had left Beer Lahai Roi and was living in southern Canaan.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging,.... Wine deceives a man; it not only overcomes him before he is aware, but it promises him a pleasure which it does not give; but, on the contrary, excessive drinking gives him pain, and so mocks him; yea, it exposes him to reproach and disgrace, and to the mockery and derision of others; as well as it sets him to scoff at his companions, and even to mock at religion, and all that is good and serious; see Hosea 7:5; and strong drink not only disturbs the brain, and puts the spirits in a ferment, so that a man rages within, but it sets him a raving and quarrelling with his company, and everybody he meets with; such generally get into broils and contentions, and get woe, sorrow, and wounds, Proverbs 23:29. Aben Ezra gives this as the sense of the words,

"a man of wine''

(that is, one that is given to wine, a wine bibber), so Ben Melech,

"is a mocker, and he cries out for strong drink, that it may be given him;''

which is not a bad sense of the words.

and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise; whosoever gives himself to it, is not on his guard against it, but is overcome by it, does not act a wise but an unwise part: wine besots as well as deceives men. This may be applied to the wine of fornication, or to the false doctrine and superstition of the church of Rome; with which the nations of the earth are deceived and made drunk, and which puts them upon blaspheming God, deriding his people, and using cruelty to them,

Revelation 17:2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

“Wine” and “strong drink” are personified as themselves doing what they make men do. The latter (see Leviticus 10:9 note) is here, probably, the “palm-wine” of Syria.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XX

Against wine and strong drink. We should avoid contentions.

The sluggard. The righteous man. Weights and measures.

Tale-bearers. The wicked son. The wise king. The glory of

young men. The beauty of old men. The benefit of correction.

NOTES ON CHAP. XX

Verse Proverbs 20:1. Wine is a mocker — It deceives by its fragrance, intoxicates by its strength, and renders the intoxicated ridiculous.

Strong drink — שכר shechar, any strong fermented liquor, whether of the vine, date, or palm species.


 
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