King James Version

Proverbs 31:6

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

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Hebrew

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תְּנוּtenvgiveנָתַןverb, qal, imperative, 2nd person, masculine, plural — “give”, a commandH5414to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, [idiom] avenge, [idiom] be (healed), bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, [phrase] cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute, do, [idiom] doubtless, [idiom] wi…שֵׁכָ֣רshekharstrong drinkשֵׁכָרnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “strong drink”, the ordinary formH7941an intoxicant, i.e. intensely alcoholic liquorstrong drink, [phrase] drunkard, strong wine.לְאוֹבֵ֑דleovedto destroyאָבַדpreposition, verb, qal, participle, absolute — “to destroy”, a verb used as a describing wordH6properly, to wander away, i.e. lose oneself; by implication to perish (causative, destroy)break, destroy(-uction), [phrase] not escape, fail, lose, (cause to, make) perish, spend, [idiom] and surely, take, be undone, [idiom] utterly, be void of, have no way to flee.וְ֝יַיִןveyayinand wineיַיִןconjunction, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “and wine”, the ordinary formH3196wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxicationbanqueting, wine, wine(-bibber).לְמָ֣רֵיlemareto bitterמַרpreposition, adjective, adjective, masculine, plural, construct — “to bitter”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH4751bitter (literally or figuratively); also (as noun) bitterness, or (adverbially) bitterly[phrase] angry, bitter(-ly, -ness), chafed, discontented, [idiom] great, heavy.נָֽפֶשׁnafeshcreatureנֶפֶשׁnoun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “creature”, the ordinary formH5315properly, a breathing creature, i.e. animal of (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, [idiom] dead(-ly), desire, [idiom] (dis-) contented, [idiom] fish, ghost, [phrase] greedy, he, heart(-y), (hath, [idiom] jeopardy of) life ([idiom] in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortally,…

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul;

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, And wine unto the bitter in soul:

Young’s Literal Translation

Give strong drink to the perishing, And wine to the bitter in soul,

World English Bible

Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish, and wine to the bitter in soul.

Darby Translation

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter of soul:

Douay-Rheims

Give strong drink to them that are sad: and wine to them that are grieved in mind:

Jewish Publication Society (1917)