Proverbs 4:17 (WEB)

Passage

For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 4:15 Avoid it, and don’t pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.

Proverbs 4:16 For they don’t sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone 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 righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.

Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don’t know what they stumble over.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "bread", "wickedness", "drink", "wine", and "violence". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "bread" and "wickedness", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "For they don t sleep unless they..." into verse 18's "But the path of the righteous is...", so "bread" and "wickedness" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "bread" and "wickedness" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.