Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.
- KJV And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- NKJV Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- NASB Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.
- NLT The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God sees that human wickedness is great and that the inclinations of the human heart are continually evil. This sweeping diagnosis explains why the flood is coming.
Overview
This verse gives a profound assessment of human depravity, reaching to the thoughts and imaginations of the heart, not merely outward acts. It grounds the biblical teaching that sin corrupts the inner person and undergirds the doctrine of original sin developed throughout Scripture. The same heart-condition is what the gospel addresses, for Christ comes to give a new heart that no flood could accomplish.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Matt 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- Rom 1:28–31Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Mark 7:21–23For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Jer 4:14Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Eph 2:1–3And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Eccl 9:3This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.
- Gen 8:21When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
- Eccl 7:29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
- Ps 53:2God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.
- Titus 3:3For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
- Ps 14:1–4For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Rom 3:9–19What then? Are we any better? Not at all. For we have already made the charge that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin.
- Gen 13:13But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
- Gen 18:20–21Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,
- Ezek 8:9Then He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations they are committing here.”
- Ezek 8:12“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
- Prov 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
- Deut 29:19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Job 15:16how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks injustice like water?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 6:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.