Jeremiah 10:23

Jeremiah 10:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
• New International Version (NIV)Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
• New King James Version (NKJV)O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Context of Jeremiah 10:23

21Our leaders are fools. They do not ask the Lord for his advice. So they have failed to take care of us, and all their people have disappeared. 22Listen! We have heard the news! There is the noise of a great army in the north. It is marching towards us! It is coming to attack the towns of Judah. It will make them heaps of stones. Only wild animals will live in them. Lord, I know that nobody controls their own life. Nobody can decide what will happen to them. 24Lord, teach us what is right, but do it carefully. Please do not punish us in your anger. That would be the end of us. 25Instead, be angry with the nations that do not respect you. Be angry with the people who do not worship you. Those are the people who have destroyed Jacob's descendants. They have killed our people. They have destroyed our land and our homes.’

Jeremiah 10:23 word by word

יָדַ֣עְתִּי יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֛י לֹ֥א לָאָדָ֖ם דַּרְכּ֑וֹ לֹֽא־לְאִ֣ישׁ הֹלֵ֔ךְ וְהָכִ֖ין אֶֽת־צַעֲדֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• I knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• that the wayדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
• of manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• not in manאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
• that walkethהָלַךְhâlak · to go: walkH1980
• to directכּוּןkûn · to establish: prepareH3559
• his stepsצַ֫עַדtsa‛ad · stepH6806

Cross-references for Jeremiah 10:23

• Psalms 17:5No, I carefully follow your ways. I do not turn away from them.
• Psalms 37:23If the way that somebody lives pleases the Lord, the Lord will lead him into good things.
• Psalms 119:116Help me to be strong, Lord, as your word promises. Do not let me be ashamed because of my hope.
• Proverbs 16:1People make plans in their minds, but the Lord gives them the right words to say.
• Proverbs 20:24The Lord chooses the way that we take through life. We cannot understand what will happen to us.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 10:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself - I will not pretend to dispute with thee; thou dost every thing wisely and justly; we have sinned, and thou hast a right to punish; and to choose that sort of punishment thou thinkest will best answer the ends of justice. We cannot choose; thou hast appointed us to captivity; we must not repine: yet,Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19-25Verses 19-25 The lamentation of the daughter of Zion, the Jewish Church, at the devastation of the land, and her humble prayer to God for mercy. Jeremiah 10:19 Grievous - Rather, “mortal,” i. e., fatal, incurable. A grief - Or, “my grief.” Jeremiah 10:20 tabernacle - i. e., “tent.” Jerusalem laments that her tent is plundered and her children carried into exile, and so “are not,” are dead Matthew 2:18, either absolutely, or dead to her in the remote land…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 17-25 The Jews who continued in their own land, felt secure. But, sooner or later, sinners will find all things as the word of God has declared, and that its threatenings are not empty terrors. Submission will support the believer under every grief allotted to him; but what can render the load of Divine vengeance easy to be borne by those who fall under it in sullen despair? Those cannot expect to prosper, who do not, by faith and prayer, take God…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23-25Jeremiah asked the Lord to unleash His anger not only on Judah but also on the nations that destroyed Israel. See Isaiah 26:9–11 and Habakkuk 1:17. These other kingdoms were so brutal that they turned the countryside into a barren wasteland. Jeremiah 10:25 quotes Psalm 79:6–7.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. Despairing of influencing the people, he turns to God. way of man not in himself--(Pr 16:1; 20:24; Jas 4:13, 14). I know, O Jehovah, that the march of the Babylonian conqueror against me (Jeremiah identifying himself with his people) is not at his own discretion, but is overruled by Thee (Is 10:5-7; compare Jr 10:19). that walketh--when he walketh, that is, sets out in any undertaking. direct ... steps--to give a prosperous issue to (Psa 73:23).Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 10:23

• Faith
• Humility
• Ignorance

In the dictionaries

• Cord
• Custom
• Covenant, the New
• Exodus, the Book of
• Intercession
• Jeremiah (2)
• Zedekiah (2)

Commentaries on Jeremiah 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings