New Living Translation
Jeremiah 17:9
9“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
Jeremiah 17:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
- New International Version (NIV)The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- English Standard Version (ESV)The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
- New King James Version (NKJV)“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Context of Jeremiah 17:9
7“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 8They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” 11Like a partridge that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. At midlife they will lose their riches; in the end, they will become poor old fools.
Read all of Jeremiah 17Jeremiah 17:9 word by word
עָקֹ֥ב הַלֵּ֛ב מִכֹּ֖ל וְאָנֻ֣שׁ ה֑וּא מִ֖י יֵדָעֶֽנּוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 17:9
- Jeremiah 16:12And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me.
- Genesis 6:5The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
- Genesis 8:21And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.
- Job 15:14Can any mortal be pure? Can anyone born of a woman be just?
- Psalms 51:5For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
- Psalms 53:1Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
- Proverbs 28:26Those who trust their own insight are foolish, but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.
- Ecclesiastes 9:3It seems so wrong that everyone under the sun suffers the same fate. Already twisted by evil, people choose their own mad course, for they have no hope. There is nothing ahead but death anyway.
- Matthew 15:19For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.
- Mark 7:21For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
- Hebrews 3:12Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
- James 1:14Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 17:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9The heart is deceitful - הלב עקב akob halleb, "the heart is supplanting - tortuous - full of windings - insidious;" lying ever at the catch; striving to avail itself of every favorable circumstance to gratify its propensities to pride, ambition, evil desire, and corruption of all kinds. And desperately wicked - הוא ואנש veanush hu, and is wretched, or feeble; distressed beyond all things, in consequence of the wickedness that is in it. I am quite of Mr…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5-18Verses 5-18 In the rest of the prophecy Jeremiah dwells upon the moral faults which had led to Judah‘s ruin. Jeremiah 17:6 Like the heath - Or, “like a destitute man” Psalm 102:17. The verbs “he shall see” (or fear) and “shall inhabit” plainly show that a man is here meant and not a plant. Jeremiah 17:8 The river - Or, “water-course” Isaiah 30:25, made for purposes of irrigation. Shall not see - Or, “shall not fear Jeremiah 17:6.” God‘s people feel…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-11Verses 5-11 He who puts confidence in man, shall be like the heath in a desert, a naked tree, a sorry shrub, the product of barren ground, useless and worthless. Those who trust to their own righteousness and strength, and think they can do without Christ, make flesh their arm, and their souls cannot prosper in graces or comforts. Those who make God their Hope, shall flourish like a tree always green, whose leaf does not wither. They shall be fixed in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 9-10By nature, the human heart can be deceitful and very wicked. Only the Lord truly understands its depth.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. deceitful--from a root, "supplanting," "tripping up insidiously by the heel," from which Jacob (Ho 12:3) took his name. In speaking of the Jews' deceit of heart, he appropriately uses a term alluding to their forefather, whose deceit, but not whose faith, they followed. His "supplanting" was in order to obtain Jehovah's blessing. They plant Jehovah for "trust in man" (Jr 17:5), and then think to deceive God, as if it could escape His notice, that it is…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 17:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 17
- 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
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