Alcohol and the Bible
Addiction/Slavery to alcohol
Hosea 4:11
Whoredom, wine, and new wine, which takes away the understanding
1 Corinthians 6:12
12 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
1 Timothy 3:8
Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain.
Titus 2:3
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,
Defilement
Daniel 1:8
But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
Drunk
Proverbs 23:20-21
Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.
Ecclesiastes 10:17
Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Isaiah 28:7
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.
Isaiah 29:9
Astonish yourselves and be astonished; blind yourselves and be blind! Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with strong drink!
Habakkuk 2:15
“Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
Joel 1:5
Awake, you drunkards, and weep, and wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it is cut off from your mouth.
Luke 21:34
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.
Romans 13:13
Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
1 Corinthians 5:11
But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
Ephesians 5:18
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Galatians 5:21
Envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Timothy 3:3
Not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
Titus 1:7
For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,
1 Peter 4:3
For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
1 Peter 5:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulters, nor men who practice homosexuality, Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Acceptable or Good
Genesis 27:28
May God give you the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine
Ecclesiastes 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
Psalms 104:14-15
You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
Isaiah 24:9
No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
Isaiah 25:6
On the mountain the Lord of Hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged-wine well refined.
Isaiah 55:1
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Amos 9:14
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
Matthew 9:17
Neither is new wine put into old wine skins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
John 2:10
And said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.
History
Genesis 9:21
He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
Genesis 19:30-38
Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose. The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” …
Deuteronomy 21:20
And they shall say to the elders of this city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.
Jeremiah 35:14
The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. I have spoken to you persistently, but you have not listened to me.
2 Samuel 11:13
And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
2 Samuel 13:28-29
Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.
1 Kings 16:8-10
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
Joel 3:3
And have casts lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
Amos 2:8
They lay themselves down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge, and in the house of their God they drink the wine of those who have been fined.
Luke 10:34
He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
John 2:1-10
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” …
Jesus and Wine
John 2:1-10
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” …
Matthew 11:19
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look at him! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
Matthew 24:48-51
But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 26:29
“I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Luke 7:34
The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “ Look at him! A glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
Medicine
Proverbs 31:6
Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress
1 Timothy 5:23
(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)
Nazarite/Priest Covenant
Leviticus 10:9
“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
Judges 13:4
Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, Judges 13:14
She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
Numbers 6:3
He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
Luke 1:15
For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Judges 13:7
But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
Ezekiel 44:21
No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.
Tithe
Deuteronomy 14:26
And spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord our God and rejoice, you and your household.
Wisdom
Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
Proverbs 21:17
Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags
Proverbs 23:29-35
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has
wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over
wine; those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it
sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and
stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter
perverse things.
Proverbs 31:4-5
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
Isaiah 5:11
Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!
Isaiah 5:22-23
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!
Ecclesiastes 2:3
I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine – my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.
Matthew 24:49
And begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards
1 Corinthians 6:12
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win
more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those
under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the
law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as
one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ)
that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might
win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might
save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its
blessings.
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
Romans 14:15-21
For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. …
2 Samuel 13:28-29
Then Absalom commanded his servants, “Mark when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Do not fear; have I not commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant.” So the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and each mounted his mule and fled.
Habakkuk 2:5
“Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples.”
Isaiah 28:7-8
These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. For all tables are full of filthy vomit, with no space left.
Proverbs 31:5-9
Lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Witness
Romans 14:21
It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.