Proverbs 20:17 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Bread of deceit Gain or pleasure procured by unrighteous courses; is sweet to a man And the more sweet, because it is unlawfully obtained; such pleasure doth the carnal mind take in the success of its wicked projects! Observe, reader, all the pleasures and profits of sin are bread of deceit; they are stolen; they are forbidden fruit; and they deceive men; for they do not perform what they promise. For a time, indeed, they are, perhaps, rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel, and the sinner blesses himself in them, but afterward his mouth shall be filled with gravel His bread of deceit will be bitter and pernicious, and produce pain and sickness in his stomach; when his conscience is awakened, when he sees himself cheated, and becomes apprehensive of the wrath of God against him for his sin, how painful and distressing then is the thought of it!