Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, October 10th, 2024
the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Proverbs 20:17

Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Deceit;   Dishonesty;   Falsehood;   Gravel;   Thompson Chain Reference - Afterwards;   Deceit;   Truth-Falsehood;   The Topic Concordance - Deception;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Bread;   Deceit;   Man;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Work;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Bread;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Deceit;   Gravel;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Beruriah;   Hananiah (ḥanina) B. Teradion;  

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Bread obtained by lying is sweet to a man,But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
A man liketh the bread that is gotten with deceipt: but at the last his mouth shalbe filled with grauell.
Darby Translation
Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
New King James Version
Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
Literal Translation
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Easy-to-Read Version
It may seem to be a good thing to get something by cheating, but in the end, it will be worth nothing.
World English Bible
Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, But afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.
King James Version (1611)
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man: but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with grauell.
King James Version
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Euery ma liketh the bred that is gotten with disceate, but at the last is mouth shalbe fylled with grauell.
THE MESSAGE
Stolen bread tastes sweet, but soon your mouth is full of gravel.
Amplified Bible
Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel [just as sin may be sweet at first, but later its consequences bring despair].
American Standard Version
Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man; But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Bible in Basic English
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but after, his mouth will be full of sand.
Update Bible Version
Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man; But afterward his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Webster's Bible Translation
Bread of deceit [is] sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
New English Translation
Bread gained by deceit tastes sweet to a person, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
Contemporary English Version
The food you get by cheating may taste delicious, but it turns to gravel.
Complete Jewish Bible
Food obtained by fraud may taste good, but later the mouth is full of gravel.
Geneva Bible (1587)
The bread of deceit is sweete to a man: but afterward his mouth shalbe filled with grauel.
George Lamsa Translation
He who becomes surety for a man by means of deceitful gain will afterwards have his mouth filled with gravel.
Hebrew Names Version
Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, But afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
New Life Bible
Bread a man gets by lying is sweet to him, but later his mouth will be filled with sand.
English Revised Version
Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Berean Standard Bible
Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but later his mouth is full of gravel.
New Revised Standard
Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the mouth will be full of gravel.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Sweet to a man, may be the bread of falsehood, but, afterward, shall his mouth be filled with gravel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The bread of lying is sweet to a man: but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
Lexham English Bible
Bread gained by deceit is sweet for the man, but afterward, his mouth will be filled with gravel.
English Standard Version
Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.
New American Standard Bible
Bread obtained by a lie is sweet to a person, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
New Century Version
Stolen food may taste sweet at first, but later it will feel like a mouth full of gravel.
Good News Translation
What you get by dishonesty you may enjoy like the finest food, but sooner or later it will be like a mouthful of sand.
Christian Standard Bible®
Food gained by fraud is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth is full of gravel.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The breed of a leesing is sweet to a man; and aftirward his mouth schal be fillid with rikenyng.
Revised Standard Version
Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.
Young's Literal Translation
Sweet to a man [is] the bread of falsehood, And afterwards is his mouth filled [with] gravel.

Contextual Overview

17 Stolen bread tastes sweet, but it turns to gravel in the mouth.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

deceit: Heb. lying, or falsehood, Proverbs 4:17

is sweet: Proverbs 9:17, Proverbs 9:18, Genesis 3:6, Genesis 3:7, Job 20:12-20, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Hebrews 11:25

his: Lamentations 3:15, Lamentations 3:16

Cross-References

Genesis 20:7
Now return the woman to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you and all your people will die."
Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called for Abraham. "What have you done to us?" he demanded. "What crime have I committed that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? No one should ever do what you have done!
Genesis 20:10
Whatever possessed you to do such a thing?"
Genesis 20:11
Abraham replied, "I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.'
Genesis 20:12
And she really is my sister, for we both have the same father, but different mothers. And I married her.
Genesis 29:31
When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, he enabled her to have children, but Rachel could not conceive.
Ezra 6:10
Then they will be able to offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the welfare of the king and his sons.
Proverbs 15:8
The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but he delights in the prayers of the upright.
Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous.
Isaiah 45:11
This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: "Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Bread of deceit [is] sweet to a man,.... Which may be understood of sin in general, which is bread to the sinner, he eats it: it is called "the bread of wickedness", Proverbs 4:17; but it is but poor bread, no other than ashes Isaiah 44:20; it is "bread of deceit"; there is a deceitfulness in all sin; it is in appearance fair and pleasant to the eye, like the fruit our first parents ate of; or like the apples of Sodom, of which it is reported that they are very beautiful to look at, but when touched drop into ashes; sin promises pleasure, profit, honour, liberty, peace, and impunity, yet gives neither; but the reverse, pain, loss, shame, servitude distress, and destruction; and yet it is sweet to an unregenerate man, one of a vicious taste, or whose taste remains unchanged; it is natural to him and he takes as much delight in it as in eating and drinking; and especially such sins as are called constitution ones, which he is not easily prevailed upon to part with; wickedness is sweet in his mouth, he rolls it and keeps it as a sweet morsel under his tongue, and forsakes it not,

Job 20:12. It may be applied to particular sins, as to adultery, as it is by Jarchi, and with which may be compared Proverbs 9:17; and to riches unlawfully gotten; see Job 20:15; and to the cruel usage and persecution of the people of God, called the bread of wickedness and wine of violence, which wicked men take as much delight in as in eating and drinking, Proverbs 4:17; particularly the cruelty of the church of Rome, who has made herself drunk with the blood of the saints, in which she delights, and will be bitter to her in the end,

Revelation 17:6. It may be interpreted of false doctrine; so the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees is signified by leavened bread,

Matthew 16:6; this is not true bread, does not strengthen, nourish, and refresh, as the Gospel does, but eats as a canker; it is not solid and substantial, but mere chaff, it is bread of falsehood and lying; false teachers lie in wait to deceive, their doctrines are lies in hypocrisy, and, yet these are sweet unto, and taken down greedily by carnal persons; particularly the doctrine of justification by works: this is the bread some men live on, but it is only husks which swine eat; it is feeding on wind, and filling the belly with east wind, which swells and vainly puffs up the fleshly mind; it is contrary to the, Gospel, and is not of the truth, and will deceive persons that trust to it; and yet it is sweet to a natural man; his own righteousness, and to trust to it, is natural to him; it is his own, and what he has laboured for, and is fond of; it affords room for boasting, and he does not care to part with it;

but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel; with that which will be ungrateful, uncomfortable, and distressing to him; the conscience of a sinner, who has been taking his fill of sin and pleasure in it shall be filled with remorse and distress; and with bitter reflections upon himself; with a dreadful sense of divine wrath, and fearful apprehensions of it now; and destruction and damnation will be his portion hereafter; and this will be the consequence of all false doctrine, and of a man's trusting to his own righteousness and despising Christ's; see 2 Peter 2:1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

“To eat gravel” was a Hebrew Lamentations 3:16, and is an Arabic, phrase for getting into trouble. So “bread,” got by deceit, tastes sweet at first, but ends by leaving the hunger of the soul unsatisfied. There is a pleasure in the sense of cleverness felt after a hard bargain or a successful fraud, which must be met by bidding men look on the after consequences.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 20:17. Bread of deceit is sweet — Property acquired by falsehood, speculation, c., without labour, is pleasant to the unprincipled, slothful man but there is a curse in it, and the issue will prove it.


 
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