Isaiah 55:7

55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle ¹ 

and sinful people their plans. ² 

They should return ³  to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, ⁴ 

and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. ⁵ 

Genesis 6:5

6:5 But the Lord saw ⁶  that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination ⁷  of the thoughts ⁸  of their minds ⁹  was only evil ¹⁰  all the time. ¹¹ 

Numbers 15:39

15:39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow ¹²  after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 29:19

29:19 When such a person ¹⁴  hears the words of this oath he secretly ¹⁵  blesses himself ¹⁶  and says, “I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit.” ¹⁷  This will destroy ¹⁸  the watered ground with the parched. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 81:12

81:12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires; ²⁰ 

they did what seemed right to them. ²¹ 

Jeremiah 3:17

3:17 At that time the city of Jerusalem ²²  will be called the Lord’s throne. All nations will gather there in Jerusalem to honor the Lord’s name. ²³  They will no longer follow the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 4:14

4:14 “Oh people of Jerusalem, purify your hearts from evil ²⁵ 

so that you may yet be delivered.

How long will you continue to harbor up

wicked schemes within you?

Jeremiah 7:24

7:24 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me. They followed the stubborn inclinations of their own wicked hearts. They acted worse and worse instead of better. ²⁶ 

Matthew 12:33-34

Trees and Their Fruit

12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad ²⁷  and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 12:34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

Matthew 15:19

15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Romans 2:5

2:5 But because of your stubbornness ²⁸  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ²⁹ 

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.

[55:7]  ¹ tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ² tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.

[55:7]  ³ tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”

[55:7]  ⁴ tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.

[55:7]  ⁵ sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.

[6:5]  ⁶ sn The Hebrew verb translated “saw” (רָאָה, ra’ah), used here of God’s evaluation of humankind’s evil deeds, contrasts with God’s evaluation of creative work in Gen 1, when he observed that everything was good.

[6:5]  ⁷ tn The noun יֵצֶר (yetser) is related to the verb יָצָר (yatsar, “to form, to fashion [with a design]”). Here it refers to human plans or intentions (see Gen 8:21; 1 Chr 28:9; 29:18). People had taken their God-given capacities and used them to devise evil. The word יֵצֶר (yetser) became a significant theological term in Rabbinic literature for what might be called the sin nature – the evil inclination (see also R. E. Murphy, “Yeser in the Qumran Literature,” Bib 39 [1958]: 334-44).

[6:5]  ⁸ tn The related verb הָשָׁב (hashav) means “to think, to devise, to reckon.” The noun (here) refers to thoughts or considerations.

[6:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “his heart” (referring to collective “humankind”). The Hebrew term לֵב (lev, “heart”) frequently refers to the seat of one’s thoughts (see BDB 524 s.v. לֵב). In contemporary English this is typically referred to as the “mind.”

[6:5]  ¹⁰ sn Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil. There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil.

[6:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all the day.”

[15:39]  ¹² tn Heb “seek out, look into.”

[15:39]  ¹³ tn This last clause is a relative clause explaining the influence of the human heart and physical sight. It literally says, “which you go whoring after them.” The verb for “whoring” may be interpreted to mean “act unfaithfully.” So, the idea is these influences lead to unfaithful activity: “after which you act unfaithfully.”

[29:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the subject of the warning in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in his heart.”

[29:19]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “heart.”

[29:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “thus destroying.” For stylistic reasons the translation begins a new sentence here.

[29:19]  ¹⁹ 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.”

[81:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and I sent him away in the stubbornness of their heart.”

[81:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “they walked in their counsel.” The prefixed verbal form is either preterite (“walked”) or a customary imperfect (“were walking”).

[3:17]  ²² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ²³ tn Heb “will gather to the name of the Lord.”

[3:17]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”

[4:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Oh, Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil.”

[7:24]  ²⁶ tn Or “They went backward and not forward”; Heb “They were to the backward and not to the forward.” The two phrases used here appear nowhere else in the Bible and the latter preposition plus adverb elsewhere is used temporally meaning “formerly” or “previously.” The translation follows the proposal of J. Bright, Jeremiah (AB), 57. Another option is “they turned their backs to me, not their faces,” understanding the line as a variant of a line in 2:27.

[12:33]  ²⁷ tn Grk “rotten.” The word σαπρός, modifying both “tree” and “fruit,” can also mean “diseased” (L&N 65.28).

[2:5]  ²⁸ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ²⁹ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”