Alcohol consumption—whether for celebration, communion, or coping—raises questions about moderation and mindfulness, but what does the Bible say about it? Let’s explore the biblical teachings on sobriety, community, and the transformative power of God’s Spirit, as we seek wisdom and discernment in our choices, honoring God with our bodies and relationships.
Also Read: What Does The Bible Say About Alcohol
What Does The Bible Say About Alcohol Consumption
Proverbs 20:1 – The Dangers of Drinking Alcohol
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
Proverbs 23:29-35 – The Consequences of Excessive Drinking
“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. 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. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. ‘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?'”
Proverbs 31:4-5 – The Warnings for Kings Regarding Alcohol
“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to desire strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.”
Ephesians 5:18 – Do Not Be Drunk with Wine
“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 6:10 – Drunkards Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of God
“Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Proverbs 23:20-21 – Do Not Be Among Drinking Parties and Gluttonous Eaters
“Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags.”
Isaiah 28:7 – Drinking Leads to Erring Vision and Stumbling
“But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.”
Proverbs 31:6-7 – To Give Strong Drink to the Perishing
“Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”
1 Peter 5:8 – Be Sober and Alert
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Proverbs 21:17 – Loving Pleasure Will Lead to Poverty
“He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.”
1 Timothy 3:2-3 – Qualifications for Church Leaders, Including Sobriety
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous.”
Numbers 6:3 – The Nazirite Code Against Strong Drink
“He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.”
Titus 2:2-3 – Older Men and Women Should Not Be Addicted to Wine
“That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things.”
Romans 14:21 – Do Not Cause Your Brother to Stumble
“It is good neither to eat meat nor to drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.”
Proverbs 23:31-32 – Do Not Look Upon the Wine When It Is Red
“Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes smoothly down; at the last it bites like a serpent and stings like a viper.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 – Whatever You Do, Do All for the Glory of God
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Isaiah 5:11-12 – Woe to Those Who Pursue Strong Drink
“Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands.”
Proverbs 31:3 – Do Not Waste Strength on Wine
“Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings.”
Romans 13:13 – Do Not Be Drunk and Loose Self-Control
“Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”
Galatians 5:19-21 – Drunkenness is a Work of the Flesh
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Proverbs 23:33 – Alcohol Brings Strange Ideas and Unrestrained Behavior
“Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things.”
Isaiah 5:22 – Woe to Those Who Are Heroes at Drinking Wine
“Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink.”
Galatians 5:22-23 – The Fruit of the Spirit Includes Self-control
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
1 Peter 4:3-4 – Leaving Behind a Life of Drunkenness
“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. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you.”
Isaiah 28:1 – Woe to the Drunkards of Ephraim
“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which is at the head of the verdant valleys, to them that are overcome with wine!”
Romans 14:22-23 – Keep Your Faith to Yourself
“So whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.”
Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a Mocker
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
1 Corinthians 15:32 – Do Not Let Eating and Drinking Lead to Sin
“If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.”
Romans 13:14 – Do Not Make Provision for the Flesh
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”
Proverbs 31:4-7 – Kings and Wine
“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink. Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”
Matthew 24:48-49 – The Master’s Return
“But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.”
1 Thessalonians 5:7 – Be Sober
“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night.”
Galatians 5:21 – Drunkenness is a Work of the Flesh
“Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Isaiah 56:12 – The Leaders Who Love Strong Drink
“Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 – Do All to the Glory of God
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Luke 21:34 – Be Aware of the Snare of Drunkenness
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”
Proverbs 23:29 – Who Shall Have Sorrows?
“Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?”
Matthew 24:49 – The Evil Servant
“And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.”
Isaiah 5:11 – Woe to Them Who Rise Early in the Morning to Follow Strong Drink
“Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!”
1 Corinthians 6:10 – Drunkards Will Not Inherit the Kingdom of God
“Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Proverbs 23:29-30 – Who Has Woe?
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine.”
Proverbs 23:33 – Your Eyes Will See Strange Sights
“Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.”
Proverbs 23:20-21 – Do Not Join Those Who Drink Too Much Wine
“Do not mix with winebibbers, or with gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.”
Isaiah 28:8 – All Tables Are Full of Filthy Vomit
“For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.”
Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a Mocker
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”
Hosea 4:11 – Whoredom and Wine Take Away the Heart
“Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.”
Isaiah 28:7 – The Priests and Prophets Have Erred Through Strong Drink
“But 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.”
Lamentations 4:21 – Rejoice and Be Glad, O Daughter of Edom
“Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.”
1 Timothy 3:8 – Deacons Should Not Be Addicted to Much Wine
“Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre.”