The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Parallel translations
- WEB The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt. Who can know it?
- KJV The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
- NKJV “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
- NASB ¶“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
- NLT “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?
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
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately corrupt; who can truly understand it? This sober diagnosis reveals the depth of human sinfulness hidden within every person.
Overview
Jeremiah pierces to the core of the human condition, declaring the heart deceitful and incurably sick beyond our own understanding. This diagnosis explains why people trust in idols and forsake God, and it humbles every claim of self-righteousness. It magnifies the gospel, for the heart no one can know or cure is fully known by God, who alone gives a new heart through the saving work of Christ (Ezekiel 36:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Mark 7:21–22For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Matt 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- 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.
- Prov 28:26He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
- Heb 3:12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Gen 6:5Then 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.
- Jas 1:14–15But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- 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.
- Matt 13:15For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’
- Ps 53:1–3For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Jer 16:12And you have done more evil than your fathers. See how each of you follows the stubbornness of his evil heart instead of obeying Me.
- Ps 51:5Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
- Job 15:14–16What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 17:9 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.