A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
Do not associate with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat,
For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And the drowsiness [of overindulgence] will clothe one with rags.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Whose eyes are red and dim?
Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.
Do not look at wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the glass, When it goes down smoothly.
At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink,
Otherwise they drink and forget the law and its decrees, And pervert the rights and justice of all the afflicted.
Give strong drink [as medicine] to him who is ready to pass away, And wine to him whose life is bitter.
Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink, Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!
“But be on guard, so that your hearts are not weighed down and depressed with the giddiness of debauchery and the nausea of self-indulgence and the worldly worries of life, and then that day [when the Messiah returns] will not come on you suddenly like a trap;
Let us conduct ourselves properly and honorably as in the [light of] day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and irresponsibility, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control),
idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies],
envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.