Psalms 21:11

21:11 Yes, ¹  they intend to do you harm; ² 

they dream up a scheme, ³  but they do not succeed. ⁴ 

Psalms 36:4

36:4 He plans ways to sin while he lies in bed;

he is committed to a sinful lifestyle; ⁵ 

he does not reject what is evil. ⁶ 

Psalms 140:2

140:2 who plan ways to harm me. ⁷ 

All day long they stir up conflict. ⁸ 

Proverbs 3:29

3:29 Do not plot ⁹  evil against your neighbor

when ¹⁰  he dwells by you unsuspectingly.

Proverbs 6:18

6:18 a heart that devises wicked plans, ¹¹ 

feet that are swift to run ¹²  to evil,

Jeremiah 11:19-20

11:19 Before this I had been like a docile lamb ready to be led to the slaughter.

I did not know they were making plans to kill me. ¹³ 

I did not know they were saying, ¹⁴ 

“Let’s destroy the tree along with its fruit! ¹⁵ 

Let’s remove Jeremiah ¹⁶  from the world of the living

so people will not even be reminded of him any more.” ¹⁷ 

11:20 So I said to the Lord, ¹⁸ 

“O Lord who rules over all, ¹⁹  you are a just judge!

You examine people’s hearts and minds. ²⁰ 

I want to see you pay them back for what they have done

because I trust you to vindicate my cause.” ²¹ 

Jeremiah 18:18

Jeremiah Petitions the Lord to Punish Those Who Attack Him

18:18 Then some people ²²  said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! ²³  There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. ²⁴  Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! ²⁵  Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

Micah 2:1

Land Robbers Will Lose their Land

2:1 Those who devise sinful plans are as good as dead, ²⁶ 

those who dream about doing evil as they lie in bed. ²⁷ 

As soon as morning dawns they carry out their plans, ²⁸ 

because they have the power to do so.

Mark 7:21-23

7:21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 7:22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 7:23 All these evils come from within and defile a person.”

James 1:14-15

1:14 But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 1:15 Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

James 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From James, ²⁹  a slave ³⁰  of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. ³¹  Greetings!

James 3:15

3:15 Such ³²  wisdom does not come ³³  from above but is earthly, natural, ³⁴  demonic.

[21:11]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[21:11]  ² tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).

[21:11]  ³ sn See Ps 10:2.

[21:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “they lack ability.”

[36:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “he takes a stand in a way [that is] not good.” The word “way” here refers metaphorically to behavior or life style.

[36:4]  ⁶ tn The three imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 highlight the characteristic behavior of the typical evildoer.

[140:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “they devise wicked [plans] in [their] mind.”

[140:2]  ⁸ tc Heb “they attack [for] war.” Some revocalize the verb (which is a Qal imperfect from גּוּר, gur, “to attack”) as יְגָרוּ (yÿgaru), a Piel imperfect from גָרָה (garah, “stir up strife”). This is followed in the present translation.

[3:29]  ⁹ sn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) means “to cut in; to engrave; to plough; to devise.” The idea of plotting is metaphorical for working, practicing or fabricating (BDB 360 s.v.).

[3:29]  ¹⁰ tn The vav (ו) prefixed to the pronoun introduces a disjunctive circumstantial clause: “when….”

[6:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “heart that devises plans of wickedness.” The latter term is an attributive genitive. The heart (metonymy of subject) represents the will; here it plots evil schemes. The heart is capable of evil schemes (Gen 6:5); the heart that does this is deceitful (Prov 12:20; 14:22).

[6:18]  ¹² tc The MT reads “make haste to run,” that is, be eager to seize the opportunity. The LXX omits “run,” that is, feet hastening to do evil. It must have appeared to the LXX translator that the verb was unnecessary; only one verb occurs in the other cola.

[11:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “against me.” The words “to kill me” are implicit from the context and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ¹⁴ tn The words “I did not know that they were saying” are not in the text. The quote is without formal introduction in the original. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[11:19]  ¹⁵ tn This word and its pronoun (לַחְמוֹ, lakhmo, “its bread”) is often emended to read “in/with its sap” = “in its prime” (either לֵחוֹ [lekho] or לֵחְמוֹ [lekhÿmo]); the latter would be more likely and the מוֹ (mo) could be explained as a rare use of the old poetic third plural suffix for the third singular; cf. GKC 258 §91.l for general use and Ps 11:7 and Job 27:23 for third singular use. Though this fits the context nicely the emendation is probably unnecessary since the word “bread” is sometimes used of other foodstuff than grain or its products (cf. BDB 537 s.v. לֶחֶם 2.a).

[11:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “cut it [or him] off.” The metaphor of the tree may be continued, though the verb “cut off” is used also of killing people. The rendering clarifies the meaning of the metaphor.

[11:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “so that his name will not be remembered any more.”

[11:20]  ¹⁸ tn The words “So I said to the Lord” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity to show the shift in address.

[11:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”

[11:20]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Lord of armies, just judge, tester of kidneys and heart.” The sentence has been broken up to avoid a long and complex English sentence. The translation is more in keeping with contemporary English style. In Hebrew thought the “kidneys” were thought of as the seat of the emotions and passions and the “heart” was viewed as the seat of intellect, conscience, and will. The “heart” and the “kidneys” are often used figuratively for the thoughts, emotions, motives, and drives that are thought to be seated in them.

[11:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “Let me see your retribution [i.e., see you exact retribution] from them because I reveal my cause [i.e., plea for justice] to you.”

[18:18]  ²² tn Heb “They.” The referent is unidentified; “some people” has been used in the translation.

[18:18]  ²³ tn Heb “Let us make plans against Jeremiah.” See 18:18 where this has sinister overtones as it does here.

[18:18]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Instruction will not perish from priest, counsel from the wise, word from the prophet.”

[18:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Let us smite him with our tongues.” It is clear from the context that this involved plots to kill him.

[2:1]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Woe to those who plan sin.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”; “ah”) was a cry used in mourning the dead.

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “those who do evil upon their beds.”

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “at the light of morning they do it.”

[1:1]  ²⁹ tn Grk “James.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora.” The Greek term διασπορά (diaspora, “dispersion”) refers to Jews not living in Palestine but “dispersed” or scattered among the Gentiles.

[3:15]  ³² tn Grk “This.”

[3:15]  ³³ tn Grk “come down”; “descend.”

[3:15]  ³⁴ tn Grk “soulish,” which describes life apart from God, characteristic of earthly human life as opposed to what is spiritual. Cf. 1 Cor 2:14; 15:44-46; Jude 19.