Proverbs 4:17
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
Proverbs 4:17 in other translations
| BSB | 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. |
| YLT | For they have eaten bread of wickedness, And wine of violence they drink. |
| DARBY | For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. |
| BBE | The bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink. |
| Webster | For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. |
What does Proverbs 4:17 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 4:16-17
16-17. The reason is found in the character of sinners, whose zeal to do evil is forcibly depicted (Pr 6:4; Psa 36:5). They live by flagrant vices (Pr 1:13). Some prefer to render, "Their bread is wickedness, their drink violence" (compare Job 15:16; 34:7).
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 4:14-27
The way of evil men may seem pleasant, and the nearest way to compass some end; but it is an evil way, and will end ill; if thou love thy God and thy soul, avoid it. It is not said, Keep at a due distance, but at a great distance; never think you can get far enough from it. The way of the righteous is light; Christ is their Way, and he is the Light. The saints will not be perfect till they reach heaven, but there…
Proverbs 4:17 in the original Hebrew
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Cross references for Proverbs 4:17
- Micah 6:12
For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
- Proverbs 9:17
Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
- Proverbs 20:17
Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
- Psalms 14:4
Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.
- James 5:4-5
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
- Matthew 23:13
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
- Job 24:5-6
Behold, as wild asses in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked.
- Amos 8:4-6
Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?
- Ezekiel 22:25-29
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. …
- Micah 3:5
Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
- Zephaniah 3:3
Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.
- Jeremiah 5:26-28
For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Proverbs 4:16
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
- Proverbs 4:17
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.
- Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Proverbs 4:17 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Porque comen pan de maldad, y beben vino de robos. |
|---|---|
| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | car ils mangent le pain de méchanceté, et ils boivent le vin des violences. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Denn sie essen Brot der Gesetzlosigkeit, und trinken Wein der Gewalttaten. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Comedunt panem impietatis, et vinum iniquitatis bibunt. |