Proverbs 9:17

“Stolen waters ¹  are sweet, and food obtained in secret ²  is pleasant!”

"Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"

"Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

"Stolen water is refreshing; food eaten in secret tastes the best!"

Steal off with me, I'll show you a good time! No one will ever know--I'll give you the time of your life."

Drink taken without right is sweet, and food in secret is pleasing.

"Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

"Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

“Stolen waters ¹  are sweet, and food obtained in secret ²  is pleasant!”

¹ sn The offer is not wine and meat (which represented wisdom), but water that is stolen. The “water” will seem sweeter than wine because it is stolen – the idea of getting away with something exciting appeals to the baser instincts. In Proverbs the water imagery was introduced earlier in 5:15-19 as sexual activity with the adulteress, which would seem at the moment more enjoyable than learning wisdom. Likewise bread will be drawn into this analogy in 30:20. So the “calling out” is similar to that of wisdom, but what is being offered is very different.

² tn Heb “bread of secrecies.” It could mean “bread [eaten in] secret places,” a genitive of location; or it could mean “bread [gained through] secrets,” a genitive of source, the secrecies being metonymical for theft. The latter makes a better parallelism in this verse, for bread (= sexually immoral behavior) gained secretly would be like stolen water.