Proverbs 4:17
15 Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.
16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
19 But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
- KJV
- For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
- WEB
- For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.
- ASV
- For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.
- DARBY
- For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
- BLB
- Indeed, they eat the bread of wickedness; they drink the wine of violence.
- ÅB
- For de spiser ugudelighets brød og drikker voldsgjernings vin.
- OTB
- De fortærer ondskapens brød og drikker voldens vin.
- B1930
- For de eter ugudelighets brød og drikker voldsgjernings vin.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Micah 6:12
For the wealthy of the city are full of violence, and its residents speak lies; their tongues are deceitful in their mouths.
Read in contextProverbs 9:17
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
Read in contextProverbs 20:17
Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
Read in contextPsalms 14:4
Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
Read in contextJames 5:4–5
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
Read in contextMatthew 23:13
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
Read in contextJob 24:5–6
Indeed, like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go to work foraging for food; the wasteland is food for their children.
Read in contextAmos 8:4–6
Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
Read in context