For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Parallel translations
- WEB for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
- BSB For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
- NKJV For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
- NASB For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
- NLT for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.
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
Drunkenness and gluttony lead to poverty and ruin.
Overview
The verse gives the practical consequence of overindulgence: it impoverishes and clothes a person in rags. A life ruled by appetite ends in want and disgrace. This concrete warning underscores the broader biblical principle that self-indulgence destroys, while self-control, a fruit of the Spirit, leads to life (Gal. 5:22-23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 21:17He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
- Prov 19:15Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- Phil 3:19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
- Prov 6:9–11How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
- Gal 5:21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Deut 21:20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
- 1 Cor 5:11But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
- Joel 1:5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
- Prov 24:30–34I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
- 1 Cor 6:10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- Isa 28:1–3Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
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 23:21 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.