Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?
Parallel translations
- WEB Who can say, “I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?”
- KJV Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
- NKJV Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?
- NASB Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”?
- NLT Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart; I am pure and free from sin”?
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
No one can honestly claim to have cleansed his own heart and be free of sin. It matters because it exposes universal human sinfulness and our need for cleansing from God.
Overview
This rhetorical question expects the answer 'no one' — every human heart is stained by sin and cannot purify itself (1 Kings 8:46; Ecclesiastes 7:20). The verse undercuts any self-righteousness and points to our need for grace. The gospel answers it: only the blood of Christ cleanses the conscience and makes the heart pure (1 John 1:7-9; Hebrews 9:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eccl 7:20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- 1 Jn 1:8–10If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- 1 Kgs 8:46When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
- Job 14:4Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
- Job 15:14What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
- Job 25:4How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
- 1 Cor 4:4My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.
- Jas 3:2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
- 2 Chr 6:36When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,
- Ps 51:5Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 20:9 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.