Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
- KJV Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
- BSB Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
- NASB Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
- NLT Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Do not keep company with those who drink too much or indulge gluttonously.
Overview
Wisdom warns against the companionship and habits of the drunkard and glutton, where appetite rules over self-control. Such excess marks a life governed by craving rather than discipline. Scripture calls believers instead to sobriety and self-control, being filled with the Spirit rather than with excess (Eph. 5:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Luke 21:34“So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.
- Eph 5:18Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
- Rom 13:13Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.
- Isa 5:22Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
- Prov 28:7Whoever keeps the law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.
- Isa 22:13and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”
- Isa 5:11Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!
- 1 Pet 4:3–4For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
- Luke 15:13Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
- Matt 24:49and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards,
- Prov 23:29–35Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
- Prov 31:6–7Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish; and wine to the bitter in soul:
- Luke 16:19“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
- Prov 20:1Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 23:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.