bible verses about alcohol
Caution and Moderation Bible Verses about Alcohol
- Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Ephesians 5:18 – Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- Proverbs 23:20-21 – Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
- Proverbs 31:4-5 – It is not for kings, Lemuel—it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
- 1 Peter 4:3 – For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.
- Isaiah 5:22 – Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks.
- Galatians 5:21 – …and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Proverbs 23:31-32 – Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
- Hosea 4:11 – Prostitution, old wine and new wine take away the understanding.
- Romans 13:13 – Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
Consequences of Excess Alcohol
- Proverbs 23:29-30 – Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
- Isaiah 28:7 – And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.
- 1 Corinthians 6:10 – Nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
- Luke 21:34 – “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap.
- Proverbs 21:17 – Whoever loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and olive oil will never be rich.
- Ecclesiastes 10:17 – Blessed is the land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness.
- Isaiah 56:12 – “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine! Let us drink our fill of beer! And tomorrow will be like today, or even far better.”
- Proverbs 23:33 – Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
- Isaiah 24:9 – No more do they drink wine with a song; the beer is bitter to its drinkers.
- Habakkuk 2:15 – “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!”
Symbolism of Alcohol
- Psalm 104:14-15 – He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.
- 1 Timothy 5:23 – Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
- John 2:1-11 – Jesus changes water into wine at the wedding in Cana, the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
- Ecclesiastes 9:7 – Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do.
- Genesis 14:18 – Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.
- Isaiah 55:1 – “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”
- Matthew 26:27-29 – Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
- Deuteronomy 14:26 – Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice.
- Song of Solomon 1:2 – Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.
- Proverbs 9:5 – “Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.”
Allegorical Uses and Warnings of Alcohol
- Revelation 14:8 – A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
- Proverbs 4:17 – For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
- Jeremiah 51:7 – Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.
- Revelation 17:2 – With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.
- Isaiah 63:6 – “I trampled the nations in my anger; in my wrath I made them drunk and poured their blood on the ground.”
- Matthew 9:17 – Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
- Luke 5:37-38 – And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
- Proverbs 23:35 – “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”
- Joel 3:18 – “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will flow with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of Shittim.”
- Amos 9:13-14 – “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills.”
Divine Judgment and Discipline
- Isaiah 51:17 – Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.
- Jeremiah 25:15-16 – This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”
- Revelation 16:19 – The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath.
- Isaiah 49:26 – I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Lamentations 4:21 – Rejoice and be glad, Daughter Edom, you who live in the land of Uz. But to you also the cup will be passed; you will be drunk and stripped naked.
- Ezekiel 23:33 – You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, the cup of ruin and desolation, the cup of your sister Samaria.
- Psalm 75:8 – In the hand of the LORD is a cup full of foaming wine mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
- Jeremiah 13:12-14 – “Every jar will be filled with wine.” And if they say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem.’
- Habakkuk 2:16 – You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed! The cup from the LORD’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
- Zechariah 12:2 – “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.
Restoration and Blessing
- Jeremiah 31:12 – They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.
- Joel 2:19 – The LORD replied to them: “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.
- Amos 9:14 – I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Zechariah 9:17 – How attractive and beautiful they will be! Grain will make the young men thrive, and new wine the young women.
- Proverbs 3:9-10 – Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
- Isaiah 25:6 – On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.
- Isaiah 27:2-3 – In that day—“Sing about a fruitful vineyard: I, the LORD, watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it.
- Hosea 14:7 – They will return and dwell beneath my shadow; they will flourish like a grain and blossom like a vine. Their fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
- Malachi 3:10 – Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
- Isaiah 65:8 – This is what the LORD says: “As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it, there is still a blessing in it,’ so will I do in behalf of my servants; I will not destroy them all.
Personal Responsibility and Wisdom Using Alcohol
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 – So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
- Romans 14:21 – It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
- Ecclesiastes 7:17 – Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time?
- Proverbs 25:28 – Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.
- Titus 2:2-3 – Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 – So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
- Proverbs 20:6 – Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find?
- 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 – Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
- Galatians 5:23 – Gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- Ephesians 6:13 – Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Social and Communal Considerations with Alcohol
- 1 Corinthians 8:13 – Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
- Romans 15:1-2 – We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
- Galatians 6:2 – Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
- Acts 2:46-47 – Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
- Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
- 1 Peter 4:9 – Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
- Romans 14:13 – Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.
- Philippians 2:3-4 – Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
- 1 Timothy 3:8 – Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not double-tongued, or addicted to much wine or fond of sordid gain,
- Titus 1:7-8 – 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, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
Discernment and Understanding using Alcohol
- Proverbs 23:19-21 – Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path: Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
- Proverbs 15:21 – Folly delights a man who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding keeps a straight course.
- Ecclesiastes 2:3 – I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
- Proverbs 14:16 – A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.
- Proverbs 17:22 – A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
- Proverbs 21:20 – The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.
- Ecclesiastes 7:14 – When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
- Proverbs 29:11 – Fools give full vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.
- Proverbs 31:6-7 – Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
- Proverbs 22:3 – The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty.
Leadership and Influence with Alcohol
- Proverbs 31:4-7 – It is not for kings, O Lemuel—not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
- Titus 1:7-9 – Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
- 1 Timothy 3:2-3 – Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
- 1 Peter 5:2-3 – Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
- Proverbs 16:12 – Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.
- Proverbs 29:14 – If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.
- Proverbs 20:28 – Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.
- Isaiah 28:1 – Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley—to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine!
- Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
- Daniel 5:1-4 – King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
Health and Well-being
- Proverbs 3:7-8 – Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
- Isaiah 58:11 – The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Jeremiah 33:6 – Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- 3 John 1:2 – Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.
- Psalm 147:3 – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Proverbs 16:24 – Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
- Isaiah 40:29 – He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
- James 5:14-15 – Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.
- Proverbs 17:22 – A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
- Psalm 103:2-3 – Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.
Spiritual Fulfillment and Joy
- Psalm 4:7 – You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.
- Acts 13:52 – And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
- Romans 14:17 – For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
- Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- Ephesians 5:19 – Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.
- Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
- 1 Thessalonians 1:6 – You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
- Psalm 16:11 – You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
- Nehemiah 8:10 – Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
- Isaiah 55:12 – You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Celebration and Thanksgiving
- Deuteronomy 16:13-15 – Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will choose. For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.
- Nehemiah 8:10 – Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 – This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.
- Psalm 104:14-15 – He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.
- Isaiah 25:6 – On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.
Reflection and Self-Control with Alcohol
- Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.
- Titus 2:11-12 – For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age,
- 1 Peter 1:13-14 – Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
- 2 Peter 1:5-6 – For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
- 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Prudence in Consumption of Alcohol
- Proverbs 23:1-3 – When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
- Luke 12:45-46 – But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
- Ecclesiastes 10:16-17 – Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and your princes feast in the morning! Blessed are you, O land, when your king is of noble birth and your princes eat at a proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness!
- Proverbs 31:6-7 – Give beer to those who are perishing, wine to those who are in anguish; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.
- 1 Corinthians 6:12 – “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
Faith and Reliance on God
- Psalm 34:8 – Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
- Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
- Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Matthew 6:33 – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
- Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Wisdom and Discernment in Life
- James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
- Proverbs 2:6-8 – For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
- Ephesians 5:15-16 – Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
- Colossians 4:5-6 – Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.
Care for One’s Neighbor
- Galatians 5:13-14 – You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Leviticus 19:18 – Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
- Romans 12:10 – Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
- 1 Peter 3:8 – Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.