To Wine or Not To Wine

There is much debate in the Christian world as to whether or not Christians should drink alcohol. Christians debate (and not always so kindly) whether or not drinking alcohol is a Romans 14 issue of liberty or if the Bible prohibits it entirely. I tend to believe that many Christians, even ones who promote abstinence from alcohol have done very little study on the matter.

The first step is to see what the Bible actually says about wine. Granted, it would take time to look at the context of the verses below, but just reading the verses that contain the word 'wine' will give you an idea of what the Bible teaches about alcohol. I would also like to note that there seems to be a difference in a few verses between 'wine' and 'strong drink.' This means that not every appearance of the word 'wine' is talking of an alcoholic drink. Take some time and read through the following verses:

Genesis 9:21 -  Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.

Genesis 9:24 -  So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.

Genesis 14:18 -  Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.

Genesis 19:32 -  Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father."

Genesis 19:33 -  So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

Genesis 19:34 -  It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, "Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father."

Genesis 19:35 -  Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

Genesis 27:25 -  He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's game, so that my soul may bless you." So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank.

Genesis 27:28 -  Therefore may God give you Of the dew of heaven, Of the fatness of the earth, And plenty of grain and wine.

Genesis 27:37 -  Then Isaac answered and said to Esau, "Indeed I have made him your master, and all his brethren I have given to him as servants; with grain and wine I have sustained him. What shall I do now for you, my son?"

Genesis 49:11 -  Binding his donkey to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes.

Genesis 49:12 -  His eyes are darker than wine, And his teeth whiter than milk.

Exodus 29:40 -  With the one lamb shall be one-tenth of an ephah of flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

Leviticus 10:9 -  "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations,

Leviticus 23:13 -  Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the LORD, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin.

Numbers 6:3 -  he shall separate himself from wine and similar drink; he shall drink neither vinegar made from wine nor vinegar made from similar drink; neither shall he drink any grape juice, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins.

Numbers 6:20 -  and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.'

Numbers 15:5 -  and one-fourth of a hin of wine as a drink offering you shall prepare with the burnt offering or the sacrifice, for each lamb.

Numbers 15:7 -  and as a drink offering you shall offer one-third of a hin of wine as a sweet aroma to the LORD.

Numbers 15:10 -  and you shall bring as the drink offering half a hin of wine as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

Numbers 18:12 -  "All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the LORD, I have given them to you.

Numbers 28:14 -  Their drink offering shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, one-third of a hin for a ram, and one-fourth of a hin for a lamb; this is the burnt offering for each month throughout the months of the year.

Deuteronomy 7:13 -  And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.

Deuteronomy 11:14 -  then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.

Deuteronomy 12:17 -  You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or your new wine or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand.

Deuteronomy 14:23 -  And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

Deuteronomy 14:26 -  And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

Deuteronomy 18:4 -  The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.

Deuteronomy 28:39 -  You shall plant vineyards and tend them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

Deuteronomy 28:51 -  And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have destroyed you.

Deuteronomy 29:6 -  You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or similar drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 32:14 -  Curds from the cattle, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs; And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, With the choicest wheat; And you drank wine, the blood of the grapes.

Deuteronomy 32:33 -  Their wine is the poison of serpents, And the cruel venom of cobras.

Deuteronomy 32:38 -  Who ate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise and help you, And be your refuge.

Deuteronomy 33:28 -  Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.

Judges 9:13 -  But the vine said to them, 'Should I cease my new wine, Which cheers both God and men, And go to sway over trees?'

Judges 13:4 -  Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

Judges 13:7 -  And He said to me, 'Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.' "

Judges 13:14 -  She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe."

Judges 19:19 -  although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything."

1 Samuel 1:14 -  So Eli said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!"

1 Samuel 1:15 -  But Hannah answered and said, "No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.

1 Samuel 1:24 -  Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young.

1 Samuel 10:3 -  Then you shall go on forward from there and come to the terebinth tree of Tabor. There three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

1 Samuel 16:20 -  And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul.

1 Samuel 25:18 -  Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five sheep already dressed, five seahs of roasted grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys.

1 Samuel 25:37 -  So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone.

2 Samuel 13:28 -  Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, "Watch now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, 'Strike Amnon!' then kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant."

2 Samuel 16:1 -  When David was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth, who met him with a couple of saddled donkeys, and on them two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits, and a skin of wine.

2 Samuel 16:2 -  And the king said to Ziba, "What do you mean to do with these?" So Ziba said, "The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who are faint in the wilderness to drink."

2 Kings 18:32 -  until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive groves and honey, that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you, saying, "The LORD will deliver us."

1 Chronicles 9:29 -  Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices.

1 Chronicles 12:40 -  Moreover those who were near to them, from as far away as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, were bringing food on donkeys and camels, on mules and oxen—provisions of flour and cakes of figs and cakes of raisins, wine and oil and oxen and sheep abundantly, for there was joy in Israel.

1 Chronicles 27:27 -  And Shimei the Ramathite was over the vineyards, and Zabdi the Shiphmite was over the produce of the vineyards for the supply of wine.

2 Chronicles 2:10 -  And indeed I will give to your servants, the woodsmen who cut timber, twenty thousand kors of ground wheat, twenty thousand kors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.

2 Chronicles 2:15 -  Now therefore, the wheat, the barley, the oil, and the wine which my lord has spoken of, let him send to his servants.

2 Chronicles 11:11 -  And he fortified the strongholds, and put captains in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine.

2 Chronicles 31:5 -  As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

2 Chronicles 32:28 -  storehouses for the harvest of grain, wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of livestock, and folds for flocks.

Ezra 6:9 -  And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail,

Ezra 7:22 -  up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribed limit.

Nehemiah 2:1 -  And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.

Nehemiah 5:11 -  Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them."

Nehemiah 5:15 -  But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people, and took from them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver. Yes, even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

Nehemiah 5:18 -  Now that which was prepared daily was one ox and six choice sheep. Also fowl were prepared for me, and once every ten days an abundance of all kinds of wine. Yet in spite of this I did not demand the governor's provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people.

Nehemiah 10:37 -  to bring the firstfruits of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, the new wine and oil, to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God; and to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities.

Nehemiah 10:39 -  For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine and the oil, to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are, where the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and the singers are; and we will not neglect the house of our God.

Nehemiah 13:5 -  And he had prepared for him a large room, where previously they had stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, the tithes of grain, the new wine and oil, which were commanded to be given to the Levites and singers and gatekeepers, and the offerings for the priests.

Nehemiah 13:12 -  Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine and the oil to the storehouse.

Nehemiah 13:15 -  In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions.

Esther 1:7 -  And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king.

Esther 1:10 -  On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,

Esther 5:6 -  At the banquet of wine the king said to Esther, "What is your petition? It shall be granted you. What is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!"

Esther 7:2 -  And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!"

Esther 7:7 -  Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king.

Esther 7:8 -  When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?" As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Job 1:13 -  Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house;

Job 1:18 -  While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,

Job 32:19 -  Indeed my belly is like wine that has no vent; It is ready to burst like new wineskins.

Psalms 4:7 -  You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

Psalms 60:3 -  You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.

Psalms 75:8 -  For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, And the wine is red; It is fully mixed, and He pours it out; Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth Drain and drink down.

Psalms 78:65 -  Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine.

Psalms 104:15 -  And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart.

Proverbs 3:10 -  So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

Proverbs 4:17 -  For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.

Proverbs 9:2 -  She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table.

Proverbs 9:5 -  "Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed.

Proverbs 20:1 -  Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 21:17 -  He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

Proverbs 23:30 -  Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

Proverbs 23:31 -  Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;

Proverbs 31:4 -  It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink;

Proverbs 31:6 -  Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those who are bitter of heart.

Ecclesiastes 2:3 -  I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.

Ecclesiastes 9:7 -  Go, eat your bread with joy, And drink your wine with a merry heart; For God has already accepted your works.

Ecclesiastes 10:19 -  A feast is made for laughter, And wine makes merry; But money answers everything.

Song of Solomon 1:2 -  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine.

Song of Solomon 1:4 -  Draw me away! We will run after you. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will remember your love more than wine. Rightly do they love you.

Song of Solomon 4:10 -  How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices!

Song of Solomon 5:1 -  I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends! Drink, yes, drink deeply, O beloved ones!

Song of Solomon 7:9 -  And the roof of your mouth like the best wine. The wine goes down smoothly for my beloved, Moving gently the lips of sleepers.

Song of Solomon 8:2 -  I would lead you and bring you Into the house of my mother, She who used to instruct me. I would cause you to drink of spiced wine, Of the juice of my pomegranate.

Isaiah 1:22 -  Your silver has become dross, Your wine mixed with water.

Isaiah 5:11 -  Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!

Isaiah 5:12 -  The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands.

Isaiah 5:22 -  Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,

Isaiah 16:10 -  Gladness is taken away, And joy from the plentiful field; In the vineyards there will be no singing, Nor will there be shouting; No treaders will tread out wine in the presses; I have made their shouting cease.

Isaiah 22:13 -  But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!"

Isaiah 24:7 -  The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry-hearted sigh.

Isaiah 24:9 -  They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.

Isaiah 24:11 -  There is a cry for wine in the streets, All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone.

Isaiah 27:2 -  In that day sing to her, "A vineyard of red wine!

Isaiah 28:1 -  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 those who are overcome with wine!

Isaiah 28:7 -  But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

Isaiah 29:9 -  Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.

Isaiah 36:17 -  until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

Isaiah 49:26 -  I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh, And they shall be drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine. All flesh shall know That I, the LORD, am your Savior, And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isaiah 51:21 -  Therefore please hear this, you afflicted, And drunk but not with wine.

Isaiah 55:1 -  "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.

Isaiah 56:12 -  "Come," one says, "I will bring wine, And we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink; Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant."

Isaiah 62:8 -  The LORD has sworn by His right hand And by the arm of His strength: "Surely I will no longer give your grain As food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, For which you have labored.

Isaiah 65:8 -  Thus says the LORD: "As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, 'Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,' So will I do for My servants' sake, That I may not destroy them all.

Jeremiah 13:12 -  "Therefore you shall speak to them this word: 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Every bottle shall be filled with wine." ' "And they will say to you, 'Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?'

Jeremiah 23:9 -  My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words.

Jeremiah 25:15 -  For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: "Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.

Jeremiah 31:12 -  Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the LORD For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.

Jeremiah 35:2 -  "Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink."

Jeremiah 35:5 -  Then I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, "Drink wine."

Jeremiah 35:6 -  But they said, "We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, 'You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever.

Jeremiah 35:8 -  Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters,

Jeremiah 35:14 -  "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey their father's commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, you did not obey Me.

Jeremiah 40:10 -  As for me, I will indeed dwell at Mizpah and serve the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken."

Jeremiah 40:12 -  then all the Jews returned out of all places where they had been driven, and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer fruit in abundance.

Jeremiah 48:12 -  "Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I shall send him wine-workers Who will tip him over And empty his vessels And break the bottles.

Jeremiah 48:33 -  Joy and gladness are taken From the plentiful field And from the land of Moab; I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting— Not joyous shouting!

Jeremiah 51:7 -  Babylon was a golden cup in the LORD's hand, That made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; Therefore the nations are deranged.

Lamentations 2:12 -  They say to their mothers, "Where is grain and wine?" As they swoon like the wounded In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out In their mothers' bosom.

Ezekiel 27:18 -  Damascus was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you made, because of your many luxury items, with the wine of Helbon and with white wool.

Ezekiel 44:21 -  No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court.

Daniel 1:5 -  And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king's delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.

Daniel 1:8 -  But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

Daniel 1:16 -  Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.

Daniel 5:1 -  Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.

Daniel 5:2 -  While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.

Daniel 5:4 -  They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.

Daniel 5:23 -  And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

Daniel 10:3 -  I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Hosea 2:8 -  For she did not know That I gave her grain, new wine, and oil, And multiplied her silver and gold— Which they prepared for Baal.

Hosea 2:9 -  "Therefore I will return and take away My grain in its time And My new wine in its season, And will take back My wool and My linen, Given to cover her nakedness.

Hosea 2:22 -  The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel.

Hosea 4:11 -  "Harlotry, wine, and new wine enslave the heart.

Hosea 7:5 -  In the day of our king Princes have made him sick, inflamed with wine; He stretched out his hand with scoffers.

Hosea 7:14 -  They did not cry out to Me with their heart When they wailed upon their beds. "They assemble together for grain and new wine, They rebel against Me;

Hosea 9:2 -  The threshing floor and the winepress Shall not feed them, And the new wine shall fail in her.

Hosea 9:4 -  They shall not offer wine offerings to the LORD, Nor shall their sacrifices be pleasing to Him. It shall be like bread of mourners to them; All who eat it shall be defiled. For their bread shall be for their own life; It shall not come into the house of the LORD.

Hosea 14:7 -  Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; They shall be revived like grain, And grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon.

Joel 1:5 -  Awake, you drunkards, and weep; And wail, all you drinkers of wine, Because of the new wine, For it has been cut off from your mouth.

Joel 1:10 -  The field is wasted, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine is dried up, The oil fails.

Joel 2:19 -  The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.

Joel 2:24 -  The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

Joel 3:3 -  They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

Joel 3:18 -  And it will come to pass in that day That the mountains shall drip with new wine, The hills shall flow with milk, And all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water; A fountain shall flow from the house of the LORD And water the Valley of Acacias.

Amos 2:8 -  They lie down by every altar on clothes taken in pledge, And drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their god.

Amos 2:12 -  "But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink, And commanded the prophets saying, 'Do not prophesy!'

Amos 4:1 -  Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, "Bring wine, let us drink!"

Amos 5:11 -  Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them.

Amos 6:6 -  Who drink wine from bowls, And anoint yourselves with the best ointments, But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

Amos 9:13 -  "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.

Amos 9:14 -  I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.

Micah 2:11 -  If a man should walk in a false spirit And speak a lie, saying, 'I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,' Even he would be the prattler of this people.

Micah 6:15 -  "You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.

Habakkuk 2:5 -  "Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, And he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations And heaps up for himself all peoples.

Zephaniah 1:13 -  Therefore their goods shall become booty, And their houses a desolation; They shall build houses, but not inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine."

Haggai 1:11 -  For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands."

Haggai 2:12 -  "If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?" ' " Then the priests answered and said, "No."

Haggai 2:16 -  since those days, when one came to a heap of twenty ephahs, there were but ten; when one came to the wine vat to draw out fifty baths from the press, there were but twenty.

Zechariah 9:15 -  The LORD of hosts will defend them; They shall devour and subdue with slingstones. They shall drink and roar as if with wine; They shall be filled with blood like basins, Like the corners of the altar.

Zechariah 9:17 -  For how great is its goodness And how great its beauty! Grain shall make the young men thrive, And new wine the young women.

Zechariah 10:7 -  Those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, And their heart shall rejoice as if with wine. Yes, their children shall see it and be glad; Their heart shall rejoice in the LORD.

Matthew 9:17 -  Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Matthew 27:34 -  they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

Matthew 27:48 -  Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink.

Mark 2:22 -  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins."

Mark 12:1 -  Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.

Mark 15:23 -  Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.

Mark 15:36 -  Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, "Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down."

Luke 1:15 -  For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.

Luke 5:37 -  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.

Luke 5:38 -  But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

Luke 5:39 -  And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' "

Luke 7:33 -  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'

Luke 10:34 -  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Luke 23:36 -  The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine,

John 2:3 -  And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."

John 2:9 -  When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

John 2:10 -  And he said to him, "Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!"

John 4:46 -  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.

John 19:29 -  Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

John 19:30 -  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Acts 2:13 -  Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."

Romans 14:21 -  It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.

Ephesians 5:18 -  And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,

1 Timothy 3:3 -  not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;

1 Timothy 3:8 -  Likewise deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money,

1 Timothy 5:23 -  No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.

Titus 1:7 -  For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money,

Titus 2:3 -  the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—

Revelation 6:6 -  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."

Revelation 14:8 -  And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

Revelation 14:10 -  he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

Revelation 16:19 -  Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.

Revelation 17:2 -  with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

Revelation 18:3 -  For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."

Revelation 18:13 -  and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.
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Certainly, some of these verses speak of wine in a positive sense--a sense of blessing from the Lord. And some of these verses are indifferent in the way that mention wine. But some of these verses clearly condemn the drinking of wine. Let me point out two:

Proverbs 20:1 -  Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.


1 Timothy 3:3 -  not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;


Wine is a mocker. Strong drink is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by it is not wise. Let me pose a question: What is the only way to ensure that you are not led astray by wine or strong drink? Never drinking it.


Secondly, when Paul lays out the qualifications for the elders of the church in 1 Timothy, he says that they should be not given to wine. Let me pose another question: How much wine? Not given to wine.


I could also note that in Ephesians 5:18 Paul instructs not to be drunk with wine. Let me pose one last question: What is the only way to ensure that you do not get drunk? Don't drink any.


I believe that alcoholic drink is forbidden by the Bible. You can disagree with me and, admittedly, I might be wrong. But in this instance, I would rather err on the side of caution and risk being wrong. It seems to me that the excuses that many give for permitting the drinking alcohol have to twist what the Scriptures actually say, and go against even the principles laid out in (gasp) Romans 14 regarding Christian liberty.