Proverbs 16:9

16:9 A person ¹  plans his course, ² 

but the Lord directs ³  his steps. ⁴ 

Psalms 25:8-9

25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; ⁵ 

that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. ⁶ 

25:9 May he show ⁷  the humble what is right! ⁸ 

May he teach ⁹  the humble his way!

Psalms 32:8

32:8 I will instruct and teach you ¹⁰  about how you should live. ¹¹ 

I will advise you as I look you in the eye. ¹² 

Isaiah 30:21

30:21 You ¹³  will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,

“This is the correct ¹⁴  way, walk in it,”

whether you are heading to the right or the left.

Isaiah 48:17

48:17 This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹⁵  says,

the Holy One of Israel: ¹⁶ 

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you how to succeed,

who leads you in the way you should go.

Jeremiah 10:23

10:23 Lord, we know that people do not control their own destiny. ¹⁷ 

It is not in their power to determine what will happen to them. ¹⁸ 

James 1:5

1:5 But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him.

[16:9]  ¹ 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.

[16:9]  ² tn Heb “his way” (so KJV, NASB).

[16:9]  ³ 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.

[16:9]  ⁴ sn “Steps” is an implied comparison, along with “way,” to indicate the events of the plan as they work out.

[25:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “good and just.”

[25:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”

[25:9]  ⁹ tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.

[25:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (’anavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.

[25:9]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).

[32:8]  ¹³ tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the Lord addresses the psalmist in vv. 8-9 (cf. NASB “I will instruct you and teach you…I will counsel you with My eye upon you”).

[32:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”

[32:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the Lord for intervention. Here the expression “my eye upon you” may simply mean that the psalmist will teach his pupils directly and personally.

[30:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:21]  ¹⁸ tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[48:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[48:17]  ²² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Not to the man his way.” For the nuance of “fate, destiny, or the way things turn out” for the Hebrew word “way” see Hag 1:5, Isa 40:27 and probably Ps 49:13 (cf. KBL 218 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 5). For the idea of “control” or “hold in one’s power” for the preposition “to” see Ps 3:8 (cf. BDB 513 s.v. לְ 5.b[a]).

[10:23]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Not to a man the walking and the establishing his step.”