Proverbs 5:21

5:21 For the ways of a person ¹  are in front of the Lord’s eyes,

and the Lord ²  weighs ³  all that person’s ⁴  paths.

Proverbs 5:2

5:2 in order to safeguard ⁵  discretion, ⁶ 

and that your lips may guard knowledge.

Proverbs 16:9

16:9 A person ⁷  plans his course, ⁸ 

but the Lord directs ⁹  his steps. ¹⁰ 

Job 34:21-22

34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual,

he observes all a person’s ¹¹  steps.

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ¹² 

Jeremiah 16:17

16:17 For I see everything they do. Their wicked ways are not hidden from me. Their sin is not hidden away where I cannot see it. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 23:24

23:24 “Do you really think anyone can hide himself

where I cannot see him?” the Lord asks. ¹⁴ 

“Do you not know that I am everywhere?” ¹⁵ 

the Lord asks. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 32:19

32:19 You plan great things and you do mighty deeds. ¹⁷  You see everything people do. ¹⁸  You reward each of them for the way they live and for the things they do. ¹⁹ 

Hebrews 4:13

4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ²⁰  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

¹ tn Heb “man.”

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn BDB 814 s.v. פָּלַס 2 suggests that the participle מְפַּלֵּס (mÿpalles) means “to make level [or, straight].” As one’s ways are in front of the eyes of the Lord, they become straight or right. It could be translated “weighs” since it is a denominative from the noun for “balance, scale”; the Lord weighs or examines the actions.

⁴ tn Heb “all his”; the referent (the person mentioned in the first half of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Heb “keep, protect, guard.”

⁶ sn This “discretion” is the same word in 1:4; it is wise, prudential consideration, careful planning, or the ability to devise plans with a view to the best way to carry them out. If that ability is retained then temptations to digress will not interfere.

⁷ tn Heb “the heart of a man.” This stresses that it is within the heart that plans are made. Only those plans that are approved by God will succeed.

⁸ tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).

⁹ tn The verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish; to confirm”) with צַעַד (tsa’ad, “step”) means “to direct” (e.g., Ps 119:133; Jer 10:23). This contrasts what people plan and what actually happens – God determines the latter.

¹⁰ sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.

¹¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (a person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”

¹³ tn Heb “For my eyes are upon all their ways. They are not hidden from before me. And their sin is not hidden away from before my eyes.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁵ tn The words “Don’t you know” are not in the text. They are a way of conveying the idea that the question which reads literally “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” expects a positive answer. They follow the pattern used at the beginning of the previous two questions and continue that thought. The words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “[you are] great in counsel and mighty in deed.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “your eyes are open to the ways of the sons of men.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “giving to each according to his way [= behavior/conduct] and according to the fruit of his deeds.”

²⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.