“Do not try to prove your strength
By drinking wine.
Wine has destroyed many people.
As the furnace tests
The work of the smith,
So wine tests hearts
When the insolent quarrel.
Wine is very life to human beings,
If you drink it in moderation.
What is life to one
Who is without wine?
It has been created
To make people happy.
Wine drunk at the proper time,
Is rejoicing to the heart.
Wine drunk in moderation
Brings gladness to the soul.
Wine drunk to excess
Leads to bitterness of spirit,
Leads to quarrels,
Leads to stumbling.
Drunkenness increases
The anger of a fool
To his own hurt.
It reduces his strength.
It adds wounds.
Do not reprove your neighbor
At a banquet of wine.
Do not despise him
In his merrymaking.
Speak no word of reproach to him.
Do not distress him
By making demands of him.”
Sirach warns that you should not try to show how strong you are by drinking wine since it has destroyed many people. Just as a furnace tests the iron work of a blacksmith, so too wine tests insolent people when they quarrel. However, wine does have a good purpose. It is life itself when taken in moderation. Without wine, our lives would not be happy. Wine at the proper time and in moderation rejoices and gladdens the heart and the soul. On the other hand, over indulging in wine can lead to a bitter spirit, quarrels, and stumbling around. The fool who drinks excessively increases his own anger to his own detriment. Drunkards lose their strength and sometimes get wounded. If you are at a banquet with wine, do not pick an argument with your neighbor. Do not dislike him for having a good time. Do not criticize him or ask him for anything. It is not the right time.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 