<p class="bodytext">While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, &#8220;Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother&#8217;s house,

<p class="poetry">For the <sc>Lordsc> holds in his hand a cup fullp> <p class="poetry">of foaming wine mixed with spices,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and pours it out.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Surely all the wicked of the earthp> <p class="poetry">will slurp it up and drink it to its very last drop.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Go, eat your food<n id="1" /> with joy,p> <p class="poetry">and drink your wine with a happy heart,p> <p class="poetry">because God has already approved your works.p>

<p class="poetry">Draw me<n id="1" /> after you; let us hurry!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">May the king<n id="3" /> bring<n id="4" /> me into his<n id="5" /> bedroom chambers!<n id="6" />p> <p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Maidensi>b><n id="7" /> <b><i>to the Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">We will<n id="8" /> rejoice and delight in you;<n id="9" />p> <p class="poetry">we will praise<n id="10" /> your love more than wine.p> <p class="poetry"><b><i>The Beloved to Her Lover:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">How rightly<n id="11" /> the young women<n id="12" /> adore you!p>

<p class="poetry">How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!p> <p class="poetry">How much better is your love than wine;p> <p class="poetry">the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice!p>

<p class="poetry">They have stringed instruments,<n id="1" /> tambourines, flutes,p> <p class="poetry">and wine at their parties.p> <p class="poetry">So they do not recognize what the <sc>Lordsc> is doing,p> <p class="poetry">they do not perceive what he is bringing about.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards,p> <p class="poetry">and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts;p> <p class="poetry">no one treads out juice in the wine vats<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">I have brought the joyful shouts to an end.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">But look, there is outright celebration!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You say, &#8220;Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,p> <p class="poetry">eat meat and drink wine.p> <p class="poetry">Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">The splendid crown of Ephraim&#8217;s drunkards is doomed,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the withering flower, its beautiful splendor,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">situated<n id="3" /> at the head of a rich valley,p> <p class="poetry">the crown of those overcome with wine.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is what the <sc>Lordsc> says concerning the false prophets:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.p> <p class="poetry">I tremble all over.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">I am like a drunk person,p> <p class="poetry">like a person who has had too much wine,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">because of the way the <sc>Lordsc>p> <p class="poetry">and his holy word are being mistreated.<n id="5" />p>

&#8220;Go to the Rechabite community.<n id="1" /> Invite them to come into one of the side rooms<n id="2" /> of the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s temple and offer them some wine to drink.&#8221;

We and our wives and our sons and daughters have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We have never drunk wine.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">Joy and gladness will disappearp> <p class="poetry">from the fruitful land of Moab.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses.p> <p class="poetry">No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers,p> <p class="poetry">not the shouts of those making wine.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Babylonia had been a gold cup in the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s hand.p> <p class="poetry">She had made the whole world drunk.p> <p class="poetry">The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">So they have all gone mad.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="lamhebrew">&#1500; (<i>Lamedi>)p> <p class="poetry">Children<n id="1" /> say to their mothers,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Where are food and drink?&#8221;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">They faint<n id="4" /> like a wounded warriorp> <p class="poetry">in the city squares.p> <p class="poetry">They die slowly<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">in their mothers&#8217; arms.<n id="6" />p>

So the king assigned them a daily ration<n id="1" /> from his royal delicacies<n id="2" /> and from the wine he himself drank. They were to be trained<n id="3" /> for the next three years. At the end of that time they were to enter the king&#8217;s service.<n id="4" />

<p class="bodytext">But Daniel made up his mind<n id="1" /> that he would not defile<n id="2" /> himself with the royal delicacies or the royal wine.<n id="3" /> He therefore asked the overseer of the court officials for permission not to defile himself.

I ate no choice food; no meat or wine came to my lips,<n id="1" /> nor did I anoint myself with oil<n id="2" /> until the end of those three weeks.p>

<p class="poetry">If a lying windbag should come and say,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;I&#8217;ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he would be just the right preacher for these people!<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will plant crops, but will not harvest them;p> <p class="poetry">you will squeeze oil from the olives,<n id="1" /> but you will have no oil to rub on your bodies;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you will squeeze juice from the grapes, but you will have no wine to drink.<n id="3" />p>