“The (A)heart is more (B)deceitful than all else
And is desperately (C)sick;
Who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, (D)search the heart,
I test the [a]mind,
(E)To give to each person according to his ways,
According to the [b]results of his deeds.
11 As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is a person who (F)makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the middle of his days it will abandon him,
And in [c]the end he will be a (G)fool.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:10 Lit kidneys
  2. Jeremiah 17:10 Lit fruit
  3. Jeremiah 17:11 Lit his

The Deceitfulness of the Human Heart

“The heart is more deceitful than anything.
    It is incurable—
        who can know it?
10 I am the Lord who searches the heart,
    who tests the inner depths
to give to each person
    according to what he deserves,[a]
        according to the fruit of his deeds.
11 As a partridge gathers together eggs
    that it didn’t lay,
so is a person who amasses wealth unjustly.
    In the middle of his life[b] it will leave him,
        and in the end he will prove to be a fool.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:10 Lit. according to his way
  2. Jeremiah 17:11 Lit. at half of his days