Proverbs 9:17
15 calling out to those who pass by, who make their paths straight.
16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment.
“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
18 But they do not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
- KJV
- Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
- WEB
- “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.”
- ASV
- Stolen waters are sweet, And bread [eaten] in secret is pleasant.
- DARBY
- Stolen waters are sweet, and the bread of secrecy is pleasant.
- BLB
- “Stolen waters are sweet, and bread of secrecies is pleasant.”
- ÅB
- Stjålet vann er søtt, og brød som spises i lønndom, smaker herlig.
- OTB
- "Stjålet vann er søtt, og brød spist i hemmelighet er deilig."
- B1930
- Stjålet vann er søtt, og brød som etes i lønndom, smaker herlig.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Proverbs 20:17
Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
Read in contextProverbs 23:31–32
Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Read in contextProverbs 30:20
This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
Read in contextJames 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
Read in contextGenesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
Read in contextEphesians 5:12
For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.
Read in contextProverbs 7:18–20
Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!
Read in context2 Kings 5:24–27
When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the gifts from the servants and stored them in the house. Then he dismissed the men, and they departed.
Read in context