Proverbs 31:1-8

¹The words of king Lemuel; the burden wherewith his mother corrected him.

²What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? and what, O son of my vows?

³Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

⁴It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine: nor for princes to say: 'Where is strong drink?'

⁵Lest they drink, and forget that which is decreed, and pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.

⁶Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul;

⁷Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

⁸Open thy mouth for the dumb, in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.