Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.”
- BSB “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
- NKJV “Stolenwater is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
- NASB “Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
- NLT “Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Folly entices with the claim that stolen water is sweet and secret food pleasant. Sin promises hidden, forbidden pleasure.
Overview
Folly's appeal lies in the allure of the illicit—what is stolen and secret seems sweetest. This exposes the deceptive logic of temptation, which dresses sin in the appeal of forbidden delight while hiding its cost. Scripture warns that the pleasures of sin are fleeting and end in death (Hebrews 11:25; James 1:14-15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 20:17Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
- Prov 23:31–32Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
- Jas 1:14–15But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
- Prov 30:20Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
- Eph 5:12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
- 2 Kgs 5:24–27And 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.
- Gen 3:6And 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.
- Prov 7:18–20Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.
- Rom 7:8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 9:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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