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1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;
And whosoever erreth thereby is not wise.
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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 terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion:
He that provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.
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3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife;
But every fool will be quarelling.
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4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;
Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.
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5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water;
But a man of understanding will draw it out.
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6 Most men will proclaim every one his own kindness;
But a faithful man who can find?
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7 A righteous man that walketh in his integrity,
Blessed are his children after him.
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8 A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment
Scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
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9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin?
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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 Diverse weights, and diverse measures,
Both of them alike are an abomination to Jehovah.
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11 Even a child maketh himself known by his doings,
Whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.
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12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,
Jehovah hath made even both of them.
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13 Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty;
Open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
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14 It is bad, it is bad, saith the buyer;
But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.
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15 There is gold, and abundance of rubies;
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
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16 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;
And hold him in pledge that is surety for foreigners.
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17 Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man;
But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
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18 Every purpose is established by counsel;
And by wise guidance make thou war.
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19 He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets;
Therefore company not with him that openeth wide his lips.
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20 Whoso curseth his father or his mother,
His lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
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21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning;
But the end thereof shall not be blessed.
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22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil:
Wait for Jehovah, and he will save thee.
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23 Diverse weights are an abomination to Jehovah;
And a false balance is not good.
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24 A man’s goings are of Jehovah;
How then can man understand his way?
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25 It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy,
And after vows to make inquiry.
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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 winnoweth the wicked,
And bringeth the threshing-wheel over them.
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27 The spirit of man is the lamp of Jehovah,
Searching all his innermost parts.
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28 Kindness and truth preserve the king;
And his throne is upholden by kindness.
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29 The glory of young men is their strength;
And the beauty of old men is the hoary head.
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30 Stripes that wound cleanse away evil;
And strokes reach the innermost parts. |
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