Jeremiah 17:9 (YLT)

Passage

Crooked <FI>is<Fi> the heart above all things, And it <FI>is<Fi> incurable--who doth know it?

Nearby Context

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed <FI>is<Fi> the man who trusteth in Jehovah, And whose confidence hath been Jehovah.

Jeremiah 17:8 And hath been as a tree planted by waters, And by a rivulet he sendeth forth his roots, And he doth not see when heat cometh, And his leaf hath been green, And in a year of dearth he is not sorrowful, Nor doth he cease from making fruit.

Jeremiah 17:9 Crooked <FI>is<Fi> the heart above all things, And it <FI>is<Fi> incurable--who doth know it?

Jeremiah 17:10 I Jehovah do search the heart, try the reins, Even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah 17:11 A partridge hatching, and not bringing forth, <FI>Is<Fi> one making wealth, and not by right, In the midst of his days he doth forsake it, And in his latter end--he is a fool.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "all things", "crooked", "heart", "above", "incurable--who", and "doth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "all things" and "crooked", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And hath been as a tree planted..." into verse 10's "I Jehovah do search the heart try...", so "all things" and "crooked" belong inside that flow. In Jeremiah context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "all things" and "crooked" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.