| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
| 1 Wine [is] a scorner strong drink [is] noisy, And any going astray in it is not wise. |
Wine is a mocker – Wine personifies alcohol. R3270:2
Intemperance is one of the most dreadful curses afflicting humanity. R2873:1
The cost of intemperance is not merely of the liquor, but of the crimes and diseases attendant. R3859:6
There is also an intoxication of pleasure, of fashion, of pride and fond desire, which seeks to stupify the new mind. R2873:5
The intemperate use of spiritous liquors is an apt illustration of the course and effect of sin in general. R1631:2
A clear knowledge of the divine plan should lead us more diligently to bring every power and talent of mind and body into full subjection to the divine will. R2873:5
The "royal priests" are in more danger from symbolic wine than from natural. R4031:5
If others are drunk with wine, let us be filled with a different kind of wine--the holy Spirit. R5038:6
We desire to express our full sympathy with the temperance cause. R3859:6
While the wise man does not say that a moderate use of alcohol brings woe and sorrow, most who tarry long at wine reached that condition through habit after beginning with the intention of being only moderate drinkers. R3271:2
Drink is raging – A warning against a foe so subtle and destructive to peace and righteousness. R1444:4
The amount spent in the United States for liquor is nearly four times that spent to conduct the government. (1894) R1631:5
Statistics of 1899 show that 72% of all criminals were made so by strong drink. R3055:1
The devil is for the saloon, God is against it; vice is for it, virtue is against it; the brothel is for it, the home is against it; the anarchist is for it, the statesman is against it; poverty is for it, plenty is against it; misery is for it, happiness is against it; disease is for it, health is against it; death is for it, life is against it. R4007:3*
Not wise Though the advocacy of total abstinence is radical and unscriptural, whoever trifles with this mocker is in danger of being deceived by it. R2533:2
Who permit themselves to be deceived by sin in any of its forms, for the pleasures of sin are brief and unsatisfying. R1631:5
Circumstances and climate here, as well as the purity of the liquors, differ much from those of Jesus and the apostles. R509:5
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| 2 The fear of a king [is] a growl as of a young lion, He who is causing him to be wroth is wronging his soul. |
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| 3 An honour to a man is cessation from strife, And every fool intermeddleth. |
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| 4 Because of winter the slothful plougheth not, He asketh in harvest, and there is nothing. |
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| 5 Counsel in the heart of a man [is] deep water, And a man of understanding draweth it up. |
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| 6 A multitude of men proclaim each his kindness, And a man of stedfastness who doth find |
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| 7 The righteous is walking habitually in his integrity, O the happiness of his sons after him! |
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| 8 A king sitting on a throne of judgment, Is scattering with his eyes all evil, |
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| 9 Who saith, 'I have purified my heart, I have been cleansed from my sin ' |
Made my heart clean – "In my flesh dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18) --no perfection, and all imperfection is un-right, and all unrighteousness is sin. R2721:3
I am pure – "If we say (speaking of our flesh and ignoring the justification provided in Christ to cover its blemishes) that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8) R2721:3
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| 10 A stone and a stone, an ephah and an ephah, Even both of them [are] an abomination to Jehovah. |
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| 11 Even by his actions a youth maketh himself known, Whether his work be pure or upright. |
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| 12 A hearing ear, and a seeing eye, Jehovah hath made even both of them. |
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| 13 Love not sleep, lest thou become poor, Open thine eyes be satisfied [with] bread. |
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| 14 'Bad, bad,' saith the buyer, And going his way then he boasteth himself. |
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| 15 Substance, gold, and a multitude of rubies, Yea, a precious vessel, [are] lips of knowledge. |
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| 16 Take his garment when a stranger hath been surety, And for strangers pledge it. |
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| 17 Sweet to a man [is] the bread of falsehood, And afterwards is his mouth filled [with] gravel. |
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| 18 Purposes by counsel thou dost establish, And with plans make thou war. |
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| 19 A revealer of secret counsels is the busybody, And for a deceiver [with] his lips make not thyself surety. |
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| 20 Whoso is vilifying his father and his mother, Extinguished is his lamp in blackness of darkness. |
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| 21 An inheritance gotten wrongly at first, Even its latter end is not blessed. |
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| 22 Do not say, 'I recompense evil,' Wait for Jehovah, and He delivereth thee. |
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| 23 An abomination to Jehovah [are] a stone and a stone, And balances of deceit [are] not good. |
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| 24 From Jehovah [are] the steps of a man, And man how understandeth he his way |
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| 25 A snare to a man [is] he hath swallowed a holy thing, And after vows to make inquiry. |
It is a snare – Leeser translates this verse: "It is a snare to a man to sanctify things hastily and to make inquiry only after having made vows." R2081:1
To make inquiry – In the sense of reconsidering the cost and, in view of the cost, whether or not we shall keep it. R2081:1
But it is a blessing to make thorough inquiry, and register afresh, our consecration vow. R4265:6
If, after vowing, inquiry finds it greater and more comprehensive than first supposed, let one not break it, but, as in Psa. 50:14, "I will pay my vows unto the Most High." R4265:6
"When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay." (Eccl. 5:4, 5) R4265:6, R2154:5
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| 26 A wise king is scattering the wicked, And turneth back on them the wheel. |
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| 27 The breath of man [is] a lamp of Jehovah, Searching all the inner parts of the heart. |
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| 28 Kindness and truth keep a king, And he hath supported by kindness his throne. |
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| 29 The beauty of young men is their strength, And the honour of old men is grey hairs. |
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| 30 The bandages of a wound thou removest with the evil, Also the plagues of the inner parts of the heart! |
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