Proverbs 9:17
15 To call passengers who go right on their ways:
16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
18 But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
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
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Read in contextProverbs 23:31–32
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Read in contextProverbs 30:20
Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
Read in contextJames 1:14–15
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Read in contextGenesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Read in contextEphesians 5:12
For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
Read in contextProverbs 7:18–20
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
Read in context2 Kings 5:24–27
And when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house: and he let the men go, and they departed.
Read in context