Deuteronomy 29:19

29:19 When such a person ¹  hears the words of this oath he secretly ²  blesses himself ³  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ⁴  This will destroy ⁵  the watered ground with the parched. ⁶ 

Job 31:7

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes, ⁷ 

or if anything ⁸  has defiled my hands,

Proverbs 28:26

28:26 The one who trusts in his own heart ⁹  is a fool,

but the one who walks in wisdom ¹⁰  will escape. ¹¹ 

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Enjoy Life to the Fullest under the Fear of God

11:9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young, ¹² 

and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.

Follow the impulses ¹³  of your heart and the desires ¹⁴  of your eyes,

but know that God will judge your motives and actions. ¹⁵ 

Jeremiah 9:14

9:14 Instead they have followed the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts. They have paid allegiance to ¹⁶  the gods called Baal, ¹⁷  as their fathers ¹⁸  taught them to do.

Ezekiel 6:9

6:9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize ¹⁹  how I was crushed by their unfaithful ²⁰  heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves ²¹  because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices.

[29:19]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:19]  ² tn Heb “in his heart.”

[29:19]  ³ tn Or “invokes a blessing on himself.” A formalized word of blessing is in view, the content of which appears later in the verse.

[29:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “heart.”

[29:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

[29:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “the watered with the parched.” The word “ground” is implied. The exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain although it appears to be figurative. This appears to be a proverbial observation employing a figure of speech (a merism) suggesting totality. That is, the Israelite who violates the letter and even spirit of the covenant will harm not only himself but everything he touches – “the watered and the parched.” Cf. CEV “you will cause the rest of Israel to be punished along with you.”

[31:7]  ⁷ sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”

[31:7]  ⁸ tc The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּם (mum, “blemish,” see the Masorah); the other is for מְאוּמָה (mÿ’umah, “anything,” see the versions and the Kethib). Either reading fits the passage.

[28:26]  ⁹ sn The idea of “trusting in one’s own heart” is a way of describing one who is self-reliant. C. H. Toy says it means to follow the untrained suggestions of the mind or to rely on one’s own mental resources (Proverbs [ICC], 505). It is arrogant to take no counsel but to rely only on one’s own intelligence.

[28:26]  ¹⁰ sn The idiom of “walking in wisdom” means to live life according to the acquired skill and knowledge passed on from the sages. It is the wisdom from above that the book of Proverbs presents, not the undisciplined and uninformed wit and wisdom from below.

[28:26]  ¹¹ tn The verb form יִמָּלֵט (yimmalet) is the Niphal imperfect; the form means “to escape.” In this context one would conclude that it means “to escape from trouble,” because the one who lives in this life by wisdom will escape trouble, and the one who trusts in himself will not.

[11:9]  ¹² tn Heb “in your youth”; or “in your childhood.”

[11:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “walk in the ways of your heart.”

[11:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the sight.”

[11:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and know that concerning all these God will bring you into judgment.” The point is not that following one’s impulses and desires is inherently bad and will bring condemnation from God. Rather the point seems to be: As you follow your impulses and desires, realize that all you think and do will eventually be evaluated by God. So one must seek joy within the boundaries of God’s moral standards.

[9:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “they have gone/followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[9:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the Baals,” referring either to the pagan gods called “Baals” or the images of Baal (so NLT).

[9:14]  ¹⁸ tn Or “forefathers,” or “ancestors.” Here the referent could be the immediate parents or, by their example, more distant ancestors.

[6:9]  ¹⁹ tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”

[6:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling, but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.

[6:9]  ²¹ tn Heb adds “in their faces.”